t 

Abvaxy  of  Che  Cheoio^tccd  ^emina 

PRINCETON  •  NEW  JERSEY 
PRESENTED  BY 

Dr.   Francis  L#   Patton 

BR    305    .F58    1873 

Fisher,    George   Park,    1827- 

1909. 
The   Reformation 

ry 

THE  «*i— — 


EEFOEMATION. 


BY 

GEOEGE  P.  FISHER,  D.  D. 

PROFESSOR   OF  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY   IN  YALE   COLLEGE. 


NEW  YORK: 
SCRIBNER,  ARMSTRONG,   AND    CO. 

1873. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1873,  by 

Scribner,  Armstrong,  and  Company, 
in  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington. 


RIVERSIDE,   CAMBRIDGE'. 

STXRKOTYPED    AND    PRINTED    BT 

H.    0.    HOUGHTON   AND   OOMPANT. 


TO 

THEODORE  DWIGHT  WOOLSEY, 

A    FRTEND    AND    EXAMPLE    OF    ALL   GOOD    LEARNING. 

THIS  WORK  IS  INSCRIBED, 

AS  A  TOKEN  OF  RESPECT  AND  AFFECTION, 

Br  THE  AUTHOR. 


PEEFAOE. 


This  work  has  grown  out  of  a  course  of  lectures  which 
were  given  at  the  Lowell  Institute  in  Boston  early  in  the 
spring  of  1871.  I  may  be  permitted  to  say  that  when  I 
engaged  to  prepare  these  lectures,  the  subject  was  not 
new  to  me  ;  and  that  the  interval  since  they  were  de- 
livered has  been  devoted  to  studies  in  the  same  field,  the 
results  of  which  are  incorporated  in  this  volume.  It  has 
appeared  to  me  practicable  to  present  to  intelligent  and 
educated  readers,  within  the  compass  of  a  volume  like  the 
present,  the  means  of  acquainting  themselves  with  the 
origin  and  nature,  the  principal  facts  and  characters  of  the 
Reformation  ;  while,  at  the  same  time,  through  notes  and 
references,  the  historical  student  should  be  guided  to  fur- 
ther researches  on  the  various  topics  which  are  brought 
under  his  notice.  There  are  two  features  in  the  plan  of 
the  present  work  to  which  it  may  not  be  improper  to  call 
attention.  With  the  religious  and  theological  side  of  the 
history  of  the  period,  I  have  endeavored  to  interweave  and 
to  set  in  their  true  relation  the  political,  secular  or  more 
general  elements,  which  had  so  powerful  an  influence  in 
determining  the  course  of  events.  The  attempt  has  also 
been  made  to  elucidate  briefly,  but  sufficiently,  points 


VI  PREFACE. 

pertaining  to  the  history  of  theological  doctrine,  an  under- 
standing  of  which  is  peculiarly  essential  in  the  study  of 
this  period  of  history. 

The  authorities  on  which  I  have  chiefly  depended,  are 
indicated  in  the  marginal  references.  The  highest  place 
belongs  to  the  writings,  and  especially  the  correspondence 
of  the  Reformers  themselves.  The  letters  of  Luther,  Me- 
lancthon,  Zwingle,  Calvin ;  the  correspondence  of  the 
English  with  the  Helvetic  Reformers  during  the  reigns  of 
Henry  VIII.,  Edward  VI.,  and  Elizabeth ;  the  correspon- 
dence of  Reformers  in  the  French-speaking  lands,  in  the 
collection  of  M.  Herminjard,  afford  the  most  vivid  as  well 
as  correct  impression  of  the  transactions  in  which  their 
authors  bore  a  leading  part.  Works  like  the  u  Correspon- 
dence of  Philip  II.,"  which  M.  Gachard  —  among  his  other 
valuable  contributions  —  has  published  from  the  archives 
of  Simancas,  have  cast  much  new  light  on  another  side  of 
the  history  of  this  era.  Of  the  more  recent  historians, 
there  are  two  of  whom  I  am  bound  to  make  special  mention 
in  this  place.  The  first  is  Ranke,  whose  admirable  series 
of  works  on  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries  have 
been  constantly  in  my  hands.  The  mingling  of  general 
views  with  apposite  and  characteristic  facts,  lends  to  the 
historical  productions  of  this  truly  illustrious  writer  a 
peculiar  charm.  The  other  historian  is  Gieseler,  who  pos- 
sessed in  an  eminent  degree  the  genius  for  accuracy, 
which  Gibbon  ascribed  to  Tillemont,  and  whose  investi- 
gations, though  extensive  and  profound  upon  every  period 
of  Church  History,  are  nowhere  more  instructive  than 
upon  the  period  of  the  Reformation.  It  must  be  a  matter 
of  sincere  regret  to  all  scholars  that  Neander  did  not  live 


PREFACE.  Vll 

to  carryforward  his  great  work, the  counterpart  of  Giese- 
ler,  into  this  period.  His  posthumous  History  of  Doctrine 
is  quite  brief  in  its  treatment  of  the  Protestant  movement, 
but  is  not  wanting  in  striking  suggestions.  Perhaps  I 
should  add  to  this  short  catalogue,  the  "  Histoire  de 
France  "  of  Henri  Martin,  which  appears  to  me  to  be  the 
most  satisfactory  of  the  comprehensive  works  on  the  history 
of  that  country. 

There  is  one  explanation  further  which  I  am  anxious 
to  make  respecting  the  design  of  this  book.  It  is  intended 
in  no  sense  as  a  polemical  work.  It  has  not  entered  into 
my  thoughts  to  inculcate  the  creed  of  Protestantism,  or  to 
propagate  any  type  of  Christian  doctrine  ;  much  less  to 
kindle  animosity  against  the  Church  of  Rome.  Very 
serious  as  the  points  of  difference  are  which  separate  the 
body  of  Protestants  from  the  body  of  Roman  Catholics, 
the  points  on  which  they  agree  outweigh  in  importance  the 
points  on  which  they  differ.  Whoever  supposes  that  the 
Reformers  were  exempt  from  grave  faults  and  infirmities, 
must  either  be  ignorant  of  their  history,  or  have  studied 
it  under  the  influence  of  a  partisan  bias.  Impartiality, 
however,  is  not  indifference  ;  and  a  frigid  and  carping 
spirit,  that  chills  the  natural  outflow  of  a  just  admiration, 
may,  equally  with  the  spirit  of  hero-worship,  hinder  one 
from  arriving  at  the  real  truth,  as  well  as  the  best  lessons 
of  history. 

Should  this  volume  be  used  in  the  class-room,  it  may 
be  suggested  to  teachers  that  frequent  reference  should 
be  made  to  the  Chronological  Table  in  the  appendix, 
where  contemporaneous  events  in  the  different  countries 
are  grouped  together.     Dates  are  pretty  thickly  strewn 


Vlll  PREFACE. 

through  the  text,  but  are  given  more  fully  in  the  Table 
of  Contents.  In  the  List  of  Works,  which  follows  the 
Chronological  Table,  I  have  briefly  characterized  some  of 
the  books  to  which  the  more  advanced  student  would  nat- 
urally resort. 

New  Haven,  Jan.  15, 1873. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

INTRODUCTION  :     THE    GENERAL    CHARACTER    OF    THE    REFORMA- 
TION. 

PAOB. 

Four  principal  events  of  modern  history 1 

Long  historical  preparation  of  these  events  ....  1 
Agency  of  individuals  not  to  be  undervalued         .         .         .         .     2 

Theories  in  respect  to  the  Reformation 2 

An  astrological  hypothesis     ........     2 

Theory  that  it  was  a  quarrel  of  monastic  orders         ...         8 

That  it  was  an  academical  dispute 4 

That  it  was  a  new  phase  of  the  old  conflict  of  Popes  and  Emperors  4 
That  it  was  an  insurrection  against  authority  :  (advanced  by  Gui- 

zot) 4 

That  it  was  a  transitional  step  towards  Rationalism  .  .  .6 
The  Reformation  primarily  a  religious  event  ....  8 
Judaizing  character  of  mediaeval  Christianity  :  constant  reaction 

of  the  spiritual  element 8 

Protestantism  positive  as  well  as  negative  ....         9 

It  has  an  objective  factor 9 

It  practically  asserted  the  right  of  private  judgment  .  .  10 
It  was  a  part  of  the  general  progress  of  society  .  .  .  .10 
General  characteristics  of  the  entire  period  ....  10 
Two-fold  aspect  of  the  Reformation  —  religious,  and  political  or 

secular 11 

Chronological  limits  of  the  era 12 

CHAPTER  n. 

THE     RISE      OF      THE      PAPAL      HIERARCHY      AND     ITS      DECLINE 
THROUGH   THE  CENTRALIZATION   OF  NATIONS. 

Protestantism  rejected  priestly  authority 13 

The  relation  of  sacerdotal  authority  to  Papal  supremacy  .       14 


X  CONTENTS. 

The  new  Dispensation  spiritual,  in  contrast  with  the  old       .         .14 

Absence  of  a  mediatorial  priesthood 14 

Officers  of  the  primitive  Church .v         .15 

Functions  of  a  priesthood  gradually  associated  with  the  ministry    16 

Growth  of  a  hierarchy 1  •» 

Irenrcus  and  Tertullian  make  the  Church  the  door  of  access  to 

Christ  (circa  200)  .         .         .         ■         .         .         .         .17 

Causes  of  the  precedence  of  the  See  of  Rome  .         .         .17 

Acknowledged  in  the  East,  because  Rome  is  the  capital ;  claimed 

in  the  West  on  account  of  Peter 20 

Accession  of  Constantine  (311)  ;  Church  not  merged  in  the  State, 

and  why 20 

Power  of  the  Emperors  over  the  Church 21 

Decline  of  the  Empire  increases  the  authority  of  the  Roman 

bishop  ..........       21 

Leo,  the  Great  (440-461) 21 

The  Papacy  exalted,  yet  endangered,  by  the  fall  of  the  Western 

Empire  (476) 21 

Spread  of  Arianism  and  Mohammedanism 22 

Fortunate  alliance  of  the  Papacy  with  the  Franks  (750)  .       22 

Rescue  of  the  Papacy  by  Pepin  and  Charlemagne  .  .  .23 
Significance  of  the  coronation  of  Charlemagne  (800)  .  .  23 
Effect  of  the  fall  of  his  Empire  on  the  Papacy  .  .  .  .23 
The  Pscudo-Tsidorian  Decretals  (circa  850)        .         .         .         .24 

Enforced  by  Nicholas  I.  (858-867) 25 

Anarchy  in  Italy  :  the  period  of  pornocracy :  intervention   of 

Henry  III.  (1046)  .         .         .      '  .         .         .         .25 

Ilildebrand  (1073-1085)  and  his  reforming  plan  :  theory  of  the 

Papacy  and  the  Empire  :  their  inevitable  conflict  .         .  26 

Advantages  of  the  Papacy  in  this  conflict  .         .         .         .27 

Victory  of  the  Popes  ;  Henry  IV. ;  the  Worms  Concordat  (1122)  ; 

Alexander  III.  (117  7) 28 

Culmination  of  Papal  power;   Innocent  IK.    (1198-1216)  .       29 

His  theory  of  the  Papal  office 29 

Rise  of  the  spirit  of  nationalism  ;  its  various  manifestations  .  31 
Benefits  of  the  Papacy  in  the  Middle  Ages  ;  approach  of  another 

era 32 

National  languages  and  literatures     ......       33 

Anti-hierarchical  spirit  of  the  vernacular  writers  .  .         .35 

The  same  spirit  in  the  Legists 36 

Reaction  against  the  Papacy;  Boniface  VIII.  (1294-1303)  .  .  36 
Conflict  of  Boniface  with  Philip  the  Fair  .         .         .         .37 


CONTENTS.  xi 

Declining  prestige   of   the   Papacy ;    the   Babylonian  captivity 

(1309-1377) 38 

Character  of  the  Papacy  at  Avignon  ;  Petrarch's  testimony      .       39 

Opposition  from  Germany  and  England 39 

The  Monarchists  against  the  Papists 40 

Attacks  upon  Papal  usurpations  by  writers  ;  Marsilius  of  Padua 

and  William  of  Occam 41 

The   Gallican  or  constitutional  theory ;  the  Reforming  Councils 

(1409-1443) °  .         .43 

Increasing  sway  of  national  and  secular,  in  the  room  of  ecclesias- 
tical feelings,  in  the  fifteenth  century 44 

Consolidation  of  monarchies;  England,  France,  Spain       .         .       44 
Secular  and  worldly  character  of  the  Popes  .         .         .         .44 

Sixtus  IV.  (14  71-84)  ;  Innocent  VIII.  (1484-92)  ;  Alexander  VI. 

(1492-1503);  Julius  II.  (1503-13) 45 

Character  of  Leo  X.  (1513-21)  ;  judgment  of  Sarpi,  Pallavicini, 

Muratori,  Guicciardini    .         .         .         .          .          .          .          .46 

The  importance  of  the  Popes,  chiefly  political  ...       48 

The  concessions  to  them  from  Princes  more  apparent  than  real     .  48 
An  illustration  in  the  repeal  of  the  Pragmatic  Sanction  (1516)        48 
Domination  of  secular  and  political  interests,  seen  in  the  contests 
of  Charles  V.  and  Francis  I.       ......       49 

The  development  of  nationalism  and  the  secularizing  of  the  Pa- 
pacy, at  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century     .         .         .50 


CHAPTER  IK. 

SPECIAL    CAUSES    AND    OMENS    OF    AN     ECCLESIASTICAL    REVOLU- 
TION   PRIOR    TO    THE    SIXTEENTH    CENTURY. 

Mediaeval  Christianity  characterized  by  legalism        ...       52 
Forms  of  reaction  against  it :  dissent  from  dogmas  ;  attacks  on 
the  usurpations  and  abuses  of  the  clergy  ;  opposition  to  the 
excessive  esteem  of  ceremonies  and  austerities       .         .         .53 
Consequences  of  a  possible  increase  of  intelligence  ...       53 
Two  classes  of  forerunners  of  the  Reformation      .         .         .         .53 

Anti-sacerdotal  sects 54 

The  Catharists  (Albigenses) 55 

The  Waldenses;  their  origin  (1170) 56 

The  Franciscan  Spirituals;  the  Fratricelli    .         .         .         .         .57 

The  Beguines  and  Beghards       .         .         .         .         .         .         .57 

What  is  indicated  by  the  rise  of  these  sects  .         .         .         .58 


Xll  CONTENTS. 

The  conservative  or  Gallican  Reformers 59 

Radical  Reformers;  John  Wickliffe  (1324-1384)  and  his   opin- 
ions          59 

How  he  was  protected         . 59 

The  Lollards 60 

John  Huss  (1373-1415)  ;  his  predecessors;  Matthias  of  Janow        61 

The  character  and  principles  of  Huss 62 

Huss  and  Wickliffe  on  the  authority  of  prelates  and  magistrates  •  62 
John  Wessel  (1420-89)  ;  Luther's  opinion  of  him  .         .         .63 

Savonarola  (1452-98) 64 

The  Mystics  ;  character  of  Mysticism 65 

Mysticism  among  the  Schoolmen  ;  Bernard,  Bonaventura  .       65 

John  Tauler  (1290-1361);  the  "German  Theology"    .         .         .66 

The  "  Imitation  of  Christ  " 67 

The   Revival  of  Learning;  begins  in  Italy,  Dante  (1265-1321)  ; 

Petrarch  (1304-74):    Boccaccio  (1313-75)     .         .         .         .67 
Spread  of  the  literary  spirit ;  consequences  to  the  Church  .       68 

Benefits  and  faults  of  Scholasticism ;  causes  of  its  downfall  .  69 

It  had  lost  its  vitality  ;  effect  of  Nominalism  ....  70 
Renewed  study  of  the  Fathers  and  of  the  Scriptures  .  .  .71 
Sceptical  spirit  of  Humanism  in  Italy  ;  influence  of  the  classic 

school  on  the  Church  of  Italy 72 

Semi-pagan  tone  of  politics  and  ethics  ;  Maechiavelli  (1469-1527)  73 
Religious  tone  of  Humanism  in  Germany  ;  Reuchlin  (1455-1522)     74 

His  victor)1  over  the  Monks 75 

Humanism  and  the  Universities  ;  Wittenberg  (1502)  .         .       76 

Humanism  in  England  ;  Colet,  Erasmus,  More  .  .  .  .76 
The  "Eulopia  "  ;  its  liberal  ideas  on  Religion  ....  76 
Erasmus  (1467-1536)  the  leader  of  Humanism      .         .         ■         .77 

His  fame  and  acquirements 78 

His  "  Praise  of  Folly  " 79 

His  chastisement  of  ecclesiastical  follies  and  abuses  .         .       81 

His  editions  of  the  Fathers  and  of  the  New  Testament  .         .  81 

Diffusion  of  his  writings    ........       82 

What  may  be  inferred  from  their  character  and  popularity  .  .  82 
Recapitulation  ;  symptoms  of  the  rise  of  a  new  order  of  things  .       83 


CONTENTS.  Xlll 

CHAPTER  IV. 

LUTHER     AND     THE     GERMAN     REFORMATION     TO     THE     DIET     OF 
AUGSBURG,     1530. 

Protestantism  congenial  to  the  German  mind         .         .         .         .85 
Luther  the  hero  of  the  Reformation    ....  .87 

87 
88 
89 
89 
89 
91 
92 
92 
96 
95 
96 
97 
97 
98 


His  birth  (1483)  and  parentage     .         ..... 

Studies  at  Erfurt  (1501-5)  ;  enters  a  convent  (1505) 

Made  a  Professor  at  Wittenberg  (1508)  .... 

His  literary  and  theological  attainments    .... 

His  religious  experience 

Sees  that  justification  is  by  faith        ..... 
Origin  of  indulgences  ;  the  Scholastic  doctrine 
Luther  opposes  the  sale  of  indulgences  by  Tetzel  (1516)   . 
Luther  posts  his  ninety-five  Theses  (1517)  ;  their  contents  . 

Their  effect  in  Germany 

Attacks  and  replies  ;  he  meets  Cajetan  at  Augsburg  (1518) 

Accedes  to  the  truce  offered  by  Miltitz   (1519)  . 

The  Leipsic  Disputation  (1519);  Philip  Melancthon     . 

Melancthon's  character ;  Luther's  geniality  and  humor 

He  asserts  that  the  primacy  of  the  Pope  is  jure  humano         .         .  99 

Effect  of  the  Leipsic  Disputation  upon  his  studies  and  opinions  99 

He  appeals  to  the  laity  ;  Address  to  the  Nobles  (1520)    .  .       100 

Writes  "  the  Babylonian  Captivity  of  the  Church  "  (1520)         .  100 

Writes  on  the  "  Freedom  of  a  Christian  Man  "  (1520)    .         .       101 

Is  excommunicated  ;  burns  the  Papal  bull  (1520)         .         .         .  101 

Commotion  produced  in  Germany ;  he  finds  political,  religious, 

and  literary  allies      .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .102 

Uh'ich  von  Hutten  (1488-1523) 102 

Political  condition  of  Germany ;  weakness  of  the  central  govern- 
ment   103 

Abortive  efforts  under  Maximilian   (1493-1519)  to  organize  the 

Empire 104 

Discontent  and  disorder ;  complaints  by  the  knights,  the  cities, 

the  peasantry 104 

The  election  of  Charles  V.  (1519):  consequent  alarm  in  Eu- 
rope       .105 

Rivalship    of     Charles   V.    and    Francis   I.    (1515-1547);    its 

grounds,  the  strength  of  the  rivals  respectively  .       .         .       106 
Character  of  Charles  V. :  his  conduct  in  the  affair  of  the  Refor- 
mation   107 


xiv  CONTENTS. 

Luther  summoned  to  the  Diet  of  Worms  (1521)  ;  his  journey  108 
Appears  before  the  Diet;  refuses  to  recant  .         .         .         .110 

Placed  under  the  ban  of  the  Empire Ill 

Alliance  of  the  Emperor  with  Leo  X. ;  the  terms  of  it         .         .111 

Luther  at  the  Wartburg  (1521-22) 112 

His    occupations ;  labors  on   the  translation  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment      112 

Radical  movement  of  Carlstadt:  Luther  returns  to  Wittenberg 

(1522) 113 

He  restores  order  ;  his  vast  labors 114 

The  Council  of  Regency  declines  to  suppress  Lutheranism  .  114 
The  character  of  Pope  Adrian  VI.  (1522-23)  and  Pope  Clement 

VII.  (1523-34) 115 

The   Diet  at  Nuremberg  (1524)  ;  remands  the   subject  of   the 

Worms  decree  to  the  several  princes  .         .         .         .115 

Union  of  Catholic  princes  and  bishops  ;  division  of  the  Nation    .  115 

Protestant  League  of  Torgau  (1526) 116 

Battle  of  Pavia  (1525)  ;  confederacy  against  Charles  .  .  .116 
The  Diet  of  Spires  (1526)  refuses  to  enforce  the  Worms  Edict  116 
Sack  of  Rome  and  triumph  of  the  Emperor  (1527)  .  .  .117 
Repressive  action  of  the  Diet  of  Spires  (1529)  ;  the  Protest     .       117 

Opposition  of  Luther  to  armed  resistance 118 

The  Diet  of  Augsburg  (1530)  ;  situation  and  spirit  of  Charles       118 

The  Augsburg  Confession  and  Apology 119 

Decree  adverse  to  the  Protestants 119 

The  courage  and  fidelity  of  the  Elector  John  .  .  .  .120 
Luther  at  Coburg  (1530)  ;  his  correspondence  .         .         .       120 

His  marriage  with  Catharine  von  Bora  (1525)     .         .         .         .123 

His  motives  ;   effect  of  his  example 123 

His  controversy  with  King  Henry  VIII.  (1522)  .         .         .         .124 
The  intemperance  of  Luther's  langauge,  how  explained   .         .       125 
His  apologetic  letter  to  Henry  VHI.  (1525)          .         .         .         .126 
The  position  of  Erasmus  in  relation   to  the    Lutheran   move- 
ment   127 

His  gradual  estrangement  from  Luther  and  his  cause  .         .129 

Merits  of  the  controversy 131 

Inability  of  Humanism  to  effect  a  Reform 132 

The  peasants'  war  (1525)  ;  how  far  owing  to  Protestantism  .  133 
Luther  supports  the  princes 134 


CONTENTS.  XT 

CHAPTER   V. 

THE  GERMAN  REFORMATION  TO  THE  PEACE  OF   AUGSBURO  : 
ZWINGLE  AND  THE  SWISS  (GERMAN)  REFORMATION. 

The  character  of  the   Swiss ;  they  serve  as  mercenaries  in  the 

armies  of  France  and  of  the  Pope 136 

Birth  of  Zwingle  (1484)  ;  his  native  character  ;  his  education  .  137 
At  Glarus  (1506-16)  he  opposes  the  system  of  pensions  and  of 

hired  service  under  the  French 138 

At   Einsiedeln    (1516-18)   preaches  salvation  by  the  grace    of 

Christ  alone 139 

Adopts  the  principle  of  the  exclusive  authority  of  the  Bible  .  139 
Preaches  against  indulgences  ;  is  established  at  Zurich  (1519)  .  139 
His  qualities  as  a  man  and  a  preacher  .....  140 
Public  disputation  (1523)  ;    the  council  of  the  city  sustains  him    141 

His  doctrines ;  a  second  disputation 141 

Zurich  becomes  a  separate  Protestant  Church  (1524)  .         .  141 

Zwingle's  "  Commentary  on  True  and  False  Religion"  (1525)  142 
His  view  respecting  the  salvation  of  the  heathen  .  .  .  142 
The  Reformation  in  Basel  (1529)  ;  Berne  (1528)  ;  St.  Gall  (1528)  ; 

Schaffhausen  (1529) 143 

The  ecclesiastical  revolution  is  also  a  political  one  .  .  .  143 
Contrast  of  Luther  and  Zwingle  ;  their  religious  experience    .       144 

Comparative  conservatism  of  Luther 144 

Mingling  of  patriotism  and  religion  in  Zwingle         .         .         .145 
Luther  led  the  resistance  to  the  Church  of  Rome        .         .         .  146 
The  Eucharistic  controversy  between  the   Lutherans  and  the 

Swiss    ...........  147 

History  of  the  doctrine  of  the  Eucharist  ....       147 

Three  opinions  ;  Luther,  Zwingle,  Calvin 148 

Ground  of  Luther's  vehemence  against  the  Zwinglian  doctrine      149 

The  Conference  at  Marburg  (1529) 152 

The  result ;  subsequent  revival  of  the  controversy  (1543)       .       153 
Catastrophe  of  the  Swiss  Reformation ;  war  between  the  Cath- 
olic and  Protestant  Cantons 154 

Death  of  Zwingle  (1531) 155 

The  Treaty  of  Peace  ;  Protestantism  checked  .  .  .  .156 
Formation  of  the  League  of  Smalcald  (1531)  .  .  .  .156 
The  Emperor  disabled  for  ten  years  (1532-42)  from  carrying 

out  the  Augsburg  Decree 156 

Catholic  League  (1538) 157 


XVI  CONTENTS. 

Conferences  of  the  opposing  parties  (1537-41)  ;  Contarini  .  .  157 
The  League  of  Smalcald,  how  weakened  .         .         .         .158 

Maurice  of  Saxony  joins  the  Emperor  (1546)       .         .         .  *      .  159 

Last  days  of  Luther 159 

The  relations  of  Luther  and  Melancthon  to  each  other  .  .  1G0 
Melanethon's  funeral  address  on  Luther  (1546)  .  .  .  162 
Luther's  power  and  influence  ;  remarks  of  Dollinger  .  .  .163 
The  Smalcaldic  war  (1546-47)  ;  defeat  of  the  Protestants  at  Muhl- 

bcrg  (1547) 164 

The  Augsburg  Interim  (1548)  ;  Charles's  plan  of  pacification  .  164 
He  is  disappointed  ;  action  of  the  Council  of  Trent  .  .  164 
Union  of  Paul  III.  and  Francis  I.  against  him  (1547)  .         .165 

Resistance   to  the  Augsburg  Interim   in  North  Germany  ;  the 

Leipsic  Interim  (1548) 165 

Better  prospects  of  Protestantism 156 

Maurice  turns   against  Charles ;    drives   him   out  of  Innspruck 

(1552) 167 

Treaty  of  Passau  (1552)    .         .                .        .                         .       167 
Peace  of  Augsburg  (1555)  ;  the  jus  reformandi :  the  Ecclesiasti- 
cal Reservation 168 

Abdication  of  Charles  (1556) 168 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE    REFORMATION    IN    THE    SCANDINAVIAN    KINGDOMS,    IN    THE 
SLAVONIC   NATIONS,    AND    IN    HUNGARY. 

Spread  of  the  Reformation ;    agency  of  Germans ;  influence  of 

Wittenberg  ....  ....  170 

The  Scandinavian  kingdoms;  the  Union  of  Calmar  (1397)  .  170 
Christian  II.  of  Denmark  (1513-23)  favors  Protestantism,  then 

draws  back 1 70 

He  is  deposed  and  succeeded  by  Frederic  I.  (1523-33)  .  .171 
Spread  of  Lutheranism  in  Denmark  in  his  reign  .  .  .173 
Under  Christian  III.  the  Reformation  is  legalized    .         .  1 73 

Constitution  of  the  Danish  Protestant  Church  .  .  .  .173 
Democratic  movements  in  Lubeck  and  other  cities,  in  connection 

with  the  Reformation 175 

Establishment  of  Protestantism  in  Norway  (1537)  .  .  .  175 
Olaf  and  Laurence  Petersen  preach  Protestantism  in  Sweden 

(1519) 176 

Gustavus  Vasa  (1523-60)  favors  it 176 


CONTENTS.  XVU 

rt  is  adopted  at  the  Diet  of  Westeras  (1527)   ....       177 

What  Avas  done  with  ecclesiastical  property         .         .         .         .177 

Failure  of  subsequent  efforts  to  restore  Catholicism  .         .       177 

Effect  of  the  execution  of  Huss  in  Bohemia  (1415)      .         .         .  177 
Hussite  movement  was  both  religious  and  national  .         .       178 

The  demand  of  the  cup  for  the  laity  ;    history  of  the  practice  of 

witholding  it         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .178 

The  Prague  University  declares  for  the  Utraquists         .         .       179 

Division  of  the  Utraquists ;  the  Taborites 179 

Ziska  (1360-1424)  their  leader 180 

The  Articles  of  Prague,  the  platform  of  the  Utraquists  (1421)     .  180 

Three  Crusades  fail  to  subdue  them 181 

They  are  heard  at  the  Council  of  Basel  (1433).         .         .         .181 

The  Compactata •       182 

Conflict  of  Calixtines  and  Taborites 182 

The  rise  of  the  Brethren  in  Unity  (circa  1450)         .         .         .    .   182 

Favorable  reception  of  Lutheranism  by  the  Hussites  .         .         .  183 
The  Utraquists  refuse  to  join  Ferdinand  in  the  Smalcaldic  war     183 
Subsequent  persecution  of  Bohemian  Protestants         .         .         .  185 
Religious  condition  of  Poland  at  the  time  of  the  Reformation  .       185 
How  Protestantism  was  introduced       .         .         .         .         .         .185 

The  spread  of  the  new  doctrine  in  Polish  Prussia  and  in  Livonia 

(1524) 185 

Sigismund  II.  (1548-72)  favorable  to  it 186 

Religious  dissension  among  Protestants  :  spread  of  Unitarianism    186 

John  a  Lasco  (1499-1560) 187 

Union  of  Lutherans,  Calvinists,  and  Brethren,  in  the  Synod  of 

Sendomir  (1570) .187 

Equality  of  rights  granted  to  all  the  Churches  .  .  .  .188 
The  Reformation  introduced  into  Hungary  .  .  .  .188 
Effect  of  the  civil  war  (1526)  upon  its  progress  ....  189 
Strife  between  the  Calvinists  and  Lutherans  .        .        .       190 


CHAPTER  Vn. 

JOHN  CALVIN  AND  THE  GENEVAN  REFORMATION. 

Calvin  belongs  to  the  second  generation  of  Reformers         .         .192 

His  birth  (1509),  family,  and  education 192 

Studies  at  Paris ;  studies  law  at  Orleans  and  Bourges         .         .  193 
His  mental  power  and  habits  of  study     .  .         .         .         .192 

Publishes  Seneca's  treatise  on  "  Clemency  "  (1532)  ;  his  motive     194 
b 


xviii  CONTENTS. 

His  conversion  (1532) 195 

His  reserve  and  love  of  retirement 196 

OMiged  to  fly  from  Paris  (1533);  at  Angouleme ;  at  Beam; 

returns  to  Paris 196 

Obliged  again  to  fly,  on  account  of  placards  against  the  mass 

(1535) 196 

His  first  theological  work  ;  the  "  Psychopannychia  "  (1534)    .       197 
At  Basel  (1535)  ;  studies  Hebrew  ;  writes  the  "Institutes  "         .  197 

His  motive  in  composing  this  work 197 

His  characteristics  as  a  writer  and  a  man 198 

His  adoption  of  the  Bible  as  the  sole  standard  of  doctrine       .       199 
His  conception  of  the  Church  and  reverence  for  it  200 

His  doctrine  of  predestination 200 

Is  attached  to  the  doctrine  on  practical  grounds  .         .         .201 

His  opinion  compared  with  that  of  Augustine  .         .         .       202 

His  ability  as  a  commentator 202 

Not  an  extremist  in  respect  to  forms  and  rites  .         .         .       203 

The  acerbity  of  his  temper 204 

His  piety  tinged  with  the  Old  Testament  spirit        .         .         .       205 
His  homage  to  law  and  sense  of  the  exaltation  of  God  .         .  205 

Less  broad  in  his  sympathies  than  Luther         ....       206 

His  greatness  of  mind  and  of  character 206 

Visits  the  court  of  the  Duchess  of  Ferrara  (1536)    .         .         .       207 

Stops  at  Geneva  on  his  return  (1536) 207 

Geneva  subject  to  Savoy;  achieves  its  independence  (1533)    .       208 

Protestant  influences  from  Berne 208 

Expulsion  of  the  Bishop  from  Geneva  and  establishment  of  Prot- 
estantism (1535) 209 

Farel  (1489-1565)  ;  his  history  and  character;  his  preaching  at 

Geneva 209 

Discontent  there  with  the  new  ecclesiastical  system         .         .       210 

State  of  morals 210 

Farel  moves  Calvin  to  remain  and  assist  him  (1536)        .         .       211 

Strict  regulations  of  Church  discipline 212 

Opposition  to  them 212 

The  preachers  refuse  to  administer  the  Sacrament      .         .         .213 
They  are  banished  by  the  citizens  (1538)         ....       213 
Calvin  resides  at  Strasburg  ;  attends  the  German  religious  Con- 
ferences (1539-1541)    213 

His  opinion  of  Luther  ;  his  relations  to  Melancthon         .         .       214 

His  marriage 215 

Is  recalled  to  Geneva  (1541),  and  why 216 


CONTENTS.  arix 

His  letter  to  Sadolet 216 

His  reluctance  to  return 217 

The  Genevan  civil  and  ecclesiastical  system  .  .  .  .217 
The  Little  Council ;  the  Consistory  .....  218 
Vigilant  supervision  of  the  people  by  preachers  and  elders  .  219 

The  Venerable  Company 219 

Calvin  takes  part  in  framing  the  civil  laws  ....  219 

How  the  preachers  were  chosen        .         .         .         .         .         .219 

Disaffection  arises ;  the  Libertines 220 

Combination  of  different  classes  of  Calvin's  opponents  .  .  221 
Severity  of  the  Genevan  laws    .  .         .         .         .         .         .         .  221 

Religious  intolerance  ;  its  history 222 

Practiced  in  the  Middle  Ages 223 

The  Reformers  did  not  advocate  toleration       ....       224 
Conflicts  of  Calvin  and  efforts  to  intimidate  him         .         .         .  225 
Bolsec  banished  (1551)  for  assailing  the  doctrine  of  predestina- 
tion   225 

Expulsion  of  Castellio  (1544) 226 

Michael  Servetus  ;  his  history  and  character  ....  226 
His  book  on  the  "  Errors  of  the  Trinity  "  (1531)  .  .  .227 
His  second  book  —  the  "  Restoration  of  Christianity  "  .  .  228 
Tried  for  heresy  before  a  Roman  Catholic  Court  at  Vienne  .  228 

Proof  furnished  from  Geneva 228 

He  escapes  and  comes  to  Geneva  (1553)     .....  229 

Is  arrested  and  tried 229 

Is  convicted  and  burned  at  the  stake 230 

Agency  of  Calvin  in  the  transaction  ;  verdict  of  Guizot  .       231 

The  execution  of  Servetus  generally  approved  ....  232 
Further  efforts  of  the  Libertines;  their  final  overthrow  (1555)  233 
Calvin's  multiplied  labors  and  vast  influence  .         .         .       234 

His  last  years  ;  the  variety  of  his  employments  ;  his  infirmities  of 

body 235 

His  last  illness  (1564)  ;  his  interview  with  the  Council  .  .  236 
His  interview  with  the  preachers  .         .         .         .         .         .237 

Estimate  of  his  character 238 

Calvinism  lays  emphasis  on  the  sovereignty  of  God    .         .         .  239 

Why  favorable  to  civil  liberty 239 

It  does  not  surrender  the  government  of  the  Church  to  the  civil 

authority 239 

Its  church  organization  is  republican  .....  240 
It  dwarfs  earthly  sovereignty  by  exalting  the  divine  .  .  .  240 
Compared  with  Romanism  in  its  view  of  the  civil  authority     .       241 


XX  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  VIE. 

THE    REFORMATION    IN    FRANCE. 

The  Sorbonne  and  Parliament  oppose  doctrinal  innovations        .  242 
Effect  of  the  repeal  of  the  Pragmatic  Sanction  (1516)  .       242 

Reform  emanates  from  Humanism 242 

Francis  I.  (1515-47);  the  patron  of  learning  and  art      .         .       243 
Lefevre  (1450-1536),  the  Father  of  the  Reformation  ;  his  studies 

and  writings 243 

His  mystical  turn ;  his  pupil,  Bri90n.net  ....       244 

Hostility  of  the  Sorbonne  and  of  Parliament  to  Lefevre  and  his 

school 244 

Heresy  suppressed  in  Meaux  (1525) 245 

Margaret,  Queen  of  Navarre  (1492-1549)  ;  her  sympathy  with 

the  Mystical  School 245 

Her  writings  ;  she  favors  the  Protestants  without   joining  them     246 
Francis  I.  opposes  the  Sorbonne  ;  supports  his  sister  .         .         .247 
Changes  his  course  ;  engages  in  persecution     ....       248 

Doubtful  position  of  France  respecting  the  Reformation      .         .  248 
Rome,  Renaissance,  the  Reformation  ;  the  three  rivals    .         .       249 
Why  Calvinism  was  disliked        .......  250 

Spirit  of  Loyola  and  the  Catholic  Reaction      ....       250 

Rabelais  (1483-1553) 250 

Vacillation  of  Francis  I.  and  its  consequences         .         .         .       251 
He  persecutes  the  Protestants  (1534)  ;  courts  the  alliance  of  the 

Lutheran  princes  .    *     .         •         .         .         .         .         .252 

Spread  of  Protestantism  in  France  in  his  reign       .         .         .       253 
Influence  of  Geneva  and  of  Calvin      ......  253 

Henry  II.  (154  7-59)  ;  his  hostility  to  the  Reformation    .         .       254 

Its  progress 254 

The  Calvinists  hold  a  general  Synod  (1559)    ....       255 
Persecution   after  the   treaty   of     Cateau-Cambresis ;    death  of 

Henry  II.  (1559) 255 

Heroism  of  the  sufferers  .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .       256 

How  the  Huguenots  became  a  political  party       ....  256 

Catharine  de  Medici ;  her  relations  to  Henry  and  his  mistress  ; 

and  her  character 257 

Francis  II.  (1559-60)  is  controlled  by  the  Guises;  their  history 

and  character 257 

Discontent  of  the  Bourbons  and  Chatillons     ....       258 
Connection  of  the  great  nobles  with  the  Calvinists    .  .         .  259 


CONTENTS.  XXI 

Calvin  preaches  to  them  submission ;  their  patience    .         .         .  260 

The  conspiracy  of  Amboise  (1560) 260 

Its  consequences  ;  the  Edict  of  Romorantin  (1560)     .         .         .  261 
Coligny  supports  the  petition   of  the   Protestants  for  liberty  of 

worship 262 

The  States  General  called  together  at  Orleans  (1560)         .         .  262 
Arrest  of  Conde  ;  Navarre  placed  under  surveillance       .         .       262 

Plot  for  the  extirpation  of  Protestantism 262 

Frustrated  by  the  death  of  Francis  II.  (1560)  .         .         .263 

Catharine  de   Medici ;  her  virtual  guardianship  of  Charles  IX. 

(1560-74),  and  regency 263 

Influence  of  L'Hospital .       263 

Strength  of  the  Protestants 264 

Guise,  Montmorenci,  and  St.  Andre"  form  the  Triumvirate       .       264 

The  Colloquy  at  Poissy  (1561)  ;  Beza 265 

The  Edict  of  St.  Germain  (1562)  grants  a  measure  of  tolera- 
tion   266 

The  Massacre  of  Vassy  (1562)  begins  the  civil  wars  .         .         .  267 

The  Huguenots  fought  in  self-defense 268 

Siege    of   Rouen;    battle    of    Dreux    (1562);  assassination   of 

Guise  (1563) 269 

The  Edict  of  Amboise  (1563)  ;  the  character  of  it  .         .       269 

The  Huguenots  take  up  arms  ;  Peace  of  Longjumeau  (1568)     .  270 

Conference  at  Bayonne  (1565) 270 

Renewal  of  the  war  under  Spanish  influence ;  battles  of  Jarnac 

and  Moncontour  (1569) 271 

Treaty  of  St.  Germain  (1570)  ;  reasons  that  influenced  the  Court 
to  make  peace ;  fortified  towns  placed  in  the  hands  of  the 
Huguenots         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .272 

Political  crisis  in  Europe  ;  will  France  make  war  on  Spain  ?       .272 
Proposal  that  Henry  of  Navarre  shall  marry  Margaret  of  Val- 

ois 273 

Coligny  comes  to  Court  ;  his  character         .         .         .         .         .273 
The  origin  of  the  Massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew  (1572)  .         .       273 

Had  it  been  planned  earlier  ? 275 

Joy  at  Madrid  and  at  Rome 277 

Effect  of  the  massacre  on  the  surviving  Huguenots     .         .         .277 
The  party  of  the  Politiques  or  Liberal  Catholics  is  formed      .       277 

Organization  of  the  League '.  278 

Position  of  Henry  III.  (1574-89) 278 

Excommunication  of  Navarre  and  Conde  by  Sixtus  V.  (1585)    .  279 
War  of  the  "  Three  Henries  "  (1586) 279 


rxii 


CONTENTS. 


Assassination  of  the  Guises  by  order  of  Henry  IIL  (1588) 
He  joins  the  army  of  Henry  of  Navarre  .... 

Henry  III.  is  assassinated  (1589) *     . 

Henry  I V. ;  his  war  with  the  League  ;  the  battle  of  Ivry  (1590) 

His  contest  with  Alexander  of  Parma  (1592) 

Abjuration  of  Henry  IV.  ;  its  motives  (1593)  ;  its  effect    . 

Character  of  this  act 

Other  misfortunes  of  the  Huguenots 

The  administration  of  Henry  IV. ;  the  Edict  of  Nantes  (1598) 
The  Huguenots  become  an  isolated  and  defensive  party 


279 
279 

280 
280 
280 
281 
282 
283 
283 
284 


CHAPTER  IX. 


THE    REFORMATION    IN    THE    NETHERLANDS. 

Prosperity  and  intelligence  of  the  people  of  the  Netherlands  .  285 
Relation  of  the  Netherlands  to  the  German  Empire   .         .         .  286 

Influences  favorable  to  Protestantism 286 

Persecuting  edicts  of  Charles  V.  (1521  seq.)  .  .  .  .287 
Martyrdoms  at  Brussels  (1523) ;  Luther's  hymn  .  .  .  287 
Continued  persecution  by  Charles  V. ;  number  of  martyrs  .  288 

Abdication  of  Charles  V.  (1555) 289 

Fanatical  and  despotic  character  of  Philip  II.  (1555-98)    .         .  289 

Hi*  unpopularity  in  the  Netherlands 290 

The  great  nobles ;  Orange,  Egmont 290 

Margaret  of  Parma  is  made  Regent  (1559)  ;  her  character     .       291 

Granvelle  ;  his  character 292 

Conduct  of  the  government  is  placed  in  his  hands  .  .  .  292 
Phili|>  keeps  in  the  Netherlands  Spanish  regiments     .         .         .  292 

He  creates  new  bishoprics 292 

Design  of  these  measures 292 

Character  of  the  nobles  ;  William  of  Orange  .         .         .       293 

Philip  renews  the  persecuting  Edicts  ......  294 

The  Incpiisition  and  its  cruelties 294 

Orange  and  Egmont  complain  of  Granvelle  to  the  King  .  .  295 
How  far  Granvelle  was  responsible  .....        295 

Ho  leaves  the  country  (15G4) 296 

Speech  of  William  of  Orange  against  the  policy  of  the  govern- 
ment   296 

Egmont  goes  to  Spain  to  enlighten  the  King  ....  297 
Ho  is  duped  by  the  assurances  of  Philip  .  .  .  .297 
Effect  of  the  continued  cruelties 297 


CONTENTS.  XX111 

The  "Compromise"  (15GG) 297 

The  Regent  allows  Protestant  preaching  outside  of  the  cities  298 
Philip  promises  to  mitigate  his  policy ;    the  proof  of  his  per- 
fidy         298 

Iconoclasm  (1566) 299 

The  Regent  makes  a  truce  with  the  Confederacy  of  Nobles         .  300 

Orange  leaves  the  country        .                  300 

Vengeance  of  Philip;  mission  of  the  Duke  of  Alva  (1567)         .  301 

He  arrests  Egmont  and  Horn  ;  the  "  Council  of  Blood  "          .  302 
Alva  defeats  Louis  of  Nassau  ;  Egmont  and  Horn  are  beheaded 

(1568) 303 

Alva's  plan  of  taxation  (1569) 303 

The  spirit  of  resistance  is  awakened 304 

The  "  Sea-beggars  ;  "  they  capture  Briel  (1572)      .         .         .  304 
Holland  and  Zealand  adopt  a  free  constitution ;  Orange  made 

Stadtholder  (1572) 304 

Alva  detested  by  the  people  ;  he  is  recalled  (1573)          .         .  305 

Requesens  succeeds  him  (1573)            ......  305 

Growth  of  a  Protestant  state  under  Orange     ....  305 

Flanders  and  Brabant  invoke  his  help ;  the  Pacification  of  Ghent 

(1576) 306 

Don  Johrrvuceeeds  Requesens  (1576) °06 

Division  between  the  Southern  and  Northern  Provinces      .         .  306 

Alexander  of  Parma  succeeds  Don  John  (1578)      .         .         .  306 
The  Utrecht  Union  formed  in  the  North  (1579)           .         .         .307 

Outlawry  of  William  of  Orange  (1580)  ;  his  "  Apology"       .  307 

His  character       .                                            308 

His  assassination  (1584) 309 

The  Catholic  Provinces  submit  to  Parma 309 

Philip's  intention  to  remove  him  ;  death  of  Parma  (1592)        .  310 

Rise  of  the  Dutch  Republic  ;  disasters  of  Philip  and  of  Spain    .  311 

The  Anabaptists 311 

Prevalence  of  Calvinism 311 

The  Calvinists  do  not  adopt  the  principle  of  toleration  .         .  312 
Difference  between  Protestants  and  Catholics  in  respect  to  in- 
tolerance      .         .         . 313 

William  of  Orange  advocates  religious  liberty         .         .         .  313 
Controversy  on   the   relation  of  the    Church   to   the   civil  au- 
thority            314 

Germs  of  the  Arminian  controversy 315 


XXIV 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  X. 


THE    REFORMATION    IN   ENGLAND    AND    SCOTLAND. 


316 
316 

316 
317 
317 
318 
318 


En<r- 


the 


Lollards  numerous  at  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century 

Influence  of  the  Revival  of  learning         .... 

Cardinal  Wolsey  a  friend  of  learning 

Tyndale  (d.  1536)  and  Frith  (d.  1533)    . 

The  peculiarity  of  the  English  Reformation 

No  prominent  leaders  as  on  the  Continent 

Henry  VIII.  seeks  a  divorce  from  Clement  VII.  (1527) 

Hemy  reduces  the  power   of  the   Pope  and  the  clergy  in 

land 

Revives  the  statute  of  "  praemunire"  (1531) 
Addressed  by  the  clergy  as  Head  of  the  English  Church 
Is  divorced  and  marries  Anne  Boleyn  (1532) 

The  act  of  Supremacy  (1534) 

Abolishing  of  the  monasteries  (1536) 

A  Catholic  and  a  Protestant  party  in  the  Council  and  in 

Church 

Cranmer  leads  the  Protestant  party  ;  his  character     . 
Thomas  Cromwell ;  Gardiner  .... 

The  English  Bible  issued  by  the  King's  authority 

The  Ten  Articles  (1536) 

The  Rebellion  of  1536 

The  Catholic  party  in  the  ascendency;  the  Six  Articles  (1539) 

The  Fall  of  Cromwell  (1540) 

Antagonism  of  the  two  parties  after  Henry's  death  (1547) 
Protestantism  prevails  under  Edward  VI.         .... 
Cranmer  reinforced  by  theologians  from  the  Continent 
The  Book  of  Common  Prayer  (1548,  1552)  ;  the  Articles  of  Re- 
ligion (1552) 326 

The  progress  too  rapid  for  the  popular  feeling    .         .         .         .326 

Fall  of  the  Protector  Somerset  (1551) 326 

Revival  of  the  ecclesiastical  statutes 327 

Reactionary  movement  under  Mary  (1553-58)         .         .         .       327 
Restoration  of  the   Catholic   system ;  her  marriage  with  Philip 

II.  (1554) 327 

Martyrdom  of  Cranmer,  Ridley,  and  Latimer  (1555-56)  .       328 

The  character  of  Cranmer 328 

Unpopularity  of  Mary  and  its  causes 329 

Extreme  demands  of  Pope  Paul  IV 329 


319 
320 
320 
320 
321 
321 

321 
322 
322 
323 
323 
323 
324 
324 
325 
325 
326 


CONTENTS.  XXV 

Accession  of   Elizabeth  (1558)  ;   her  conservative  Protestant- 
ism    331 

Revision  of  the  Articles  (1563) 831 

Act  of  Supremacy  and   Acts  of  Uniformity   (1559);  Court  of. 

High  Commission  (1583) 331 

Treatment  of  the  Catholics 331 

Distinction   between  the  Anglican   Church  and  the  Protestant 

Churches  on  the  Continent 332 

Little  controversy  on   Episcopacy  in  the  first  age  of  the  Refor- 
mation   332 

Fraternal  relation  of  the  English  and  the  Continental  Churches    332 
Cranmer  asserts  the  parity  of  the  clergy          .         .         .         .333 
Testimony  of  Lord  Bacon  ;  position  of  Hooker  (1553-1600)      .  334 
Agreement  of  the  Anglican  and  Continental  Churches   on  pre- 
destination          335 

The  Augustinian  and  Calvinistic  doctrine  compared  .         .         .337 

.   338 

.  338 

.   340 

.  341 

.   342 

.  343 

.   344 

.  345 


Influence  of  Calvin  and  of  his  writings  in  England 

Anglican  divines  not  rigid  predestinarians 

Anglican  doctrine  Calvinistic  on  the  Eucharist 

This  doctrine  expressed  in  the  Articles 

The  Puritan  objections  to  the  vestments 

Views  of  Jewel  and  other  Elizabethan  bishops   . 

The  Queen's  opposition  to  changes  in  the  ritual 

Her  enforcement  of  uniformity    .... 

Cartwright  an  advocate  of  Presbyterianism  (1572)  .         .       345 

The  bearing  of  his  principles  on  the  Queen's  Supremacy    .         .346 

Rise  of  the  Independents  ;  their  principles     ....       347 

Hooker  on  Church  government  and  on  the  relation  of  Church 

and  State 347 

Merits  of  the  controversy  of  the  Anglicans  and  Puritans         .       349 

Lord  Bacon's  review  of  it 349 

No  iconoclasm  in  England 350 

Connection  of  the  Scottish  Reformation  with  Elizabeth  .  .351 
Character  of  the  Scottish  nobility  ;  of  the  commons  .  .  352 
The  clergy  ignorant  and  vicious  ;  their  wealth  ....  352 
Treatment  of  Protestantism  under  the  Regent  Mary  (1554-60)  353 
Return  of  Knox  from  the  Continent  (1559)  ....  353 
The  education  of  Knox  ;  begins  to  preach  ;  a  captive  in  France 

(1547) 354 

He  resides  at  Geneva  (1556-59)  ;  his  "Monstrous  Regimen  of 

Women" 355 

The  Covenant  of  the  Lords  of  the  Congregation  (1557)     .         .355 


XXVI  CONTENTS. 

The  preaching  of  Knox  ;  ieonoclasm 355 

Elizabeth  sends  troops  to  aid  the  lords  (1560)     .         .         .         .356 
Death  of  the  Queen-Regent  (1560)  ;  legal  establishment  of  Prot- 
estantism (1560) 356 

The  ecclesiastical  property,  how  used  .         .  -       .         .         .357 

Return  of   Mary,  Queen  of   Scots,   from  France   (1561);  her 

character 357 

She  docs  not  resist  Protestantism  ;  grounds  of  her  policy  .  .  358 
Knox's  opposition  to  the  mass  in  her  Chapel  (1561)         .         .       359 

Conference  of  Knox  and  the  Queen 360 

Their  debate  on  the "  regimen  of  women "  .         .         .361 

On  the  right  of  subjects  to  resist  their  sovereign         .         .         .362 
Knox's  opinion  of  Mary  .         .         .  .         .         .       363 

He  preaches  against  the  dancing  at  Holyrood ;  another  confer- 
ence with  Mary 364 

The  people  suppress  the  mass  in  the  western  districts  (1563)  .  364 
Knox  deiends  their  conduct  in  a  conversation  with  the  Queen  .  364 
Knox  arraigned  for  convening  her  lieges  ....       366 

He  describes  his  examination  before  her  and  the  Privy  Council  .  367 
Knox's  public  prayer  for  the  Queen  and  the  realm  .         .       367 

He  considers  toleration  of  Catholic  worship  a  sin  .         .  368 

Mary's  marriage  with  Darnley  (1565) 369 

It  displeases  Elizabeth  ;  Mary's  hopes  centre  in  Spain    and  the 

Guises 369 

Murder  of  Rizzio  by  Darnley  and  the  jealous  nobles  (1566)  .  370 
Mary's  repugnance  to  Darnley  and  attachment  to  Bothwell  .  3  72 
Circumstances  preceding  the  murder  of  Darnley  .  .  .372 
Abduction  of  the  Queen  by  Bothwell  (1567)  .  .  .  .374 
He  is  divorced  from  his  wife  and  marries  Mary  (1567)  .  .  375 
She  surrenders  to  the  lords  at  Carberry  Hill  (1567)   .         .         .  375 

The  problem  of  the  "  casket  letters  " 376 

Mary  abdicates  in  favor  of  her  son;  makes  Murray  regent  (1567)  378 
Constitution   of    the    Kirk ;    the     Second    Book   of   Discipline 

(1577-81) 378 

Full  establishment  of  the  Presbyterian  system  (1592)     .         .       380 
Mary  escapes  from  Lochleven  (1568)   ;  is  defeated  at  Langside 

(1568)  ;  a  prisoner  in  England     ......  380 

Hostility  of  the  Catholic  Reaction  to  Elizabeth       .         .         .381 

She  sends  help  to  the  Netherlands  (1585) 382 

Execution  of  Mary  (1587) 382 

Defeat  of  the  Spanish  Armada  (1588) 382 


CONTENTS.  XXVU 

Protestantism  in  Ireland 383 

Effect  of  the  Catholic  Reaction  on  the  Irish  ....  384 
Lord  Bacon  on  the  way  to  treat  Ireland  ....      384 

CHAPTER  XL 

THE     REFORMATION     IX    ITALY    AND     SPAIN  |     THE    COUNTER-REF- 
ORMATION  IN    THE   ROMAN   CATHOLIC    CHURCH. 

Resistance  to  Protestantism  organized  in  Italy  and  Spain  .  .  385 
Political  condition  of  Italy  in  its  bearing  on  Protestantism  .  385 
The  corruption  of  the  Church  understood  by  Italians  .         .  386 

Arnold  of  Brescia  (d.  1155) 38G 

Dante  (1265-1321)  attacks  the  temporal  power,  but  not  the  Cath- 
olic dogmas  .         .         .         *         .         .         .         .         .387 

His  ideal  of  the  restored  Empire .  388 

How  Boccaccio  (1313-75)  treats  the  Church  and  the  clergy  .  388 
The  spirit  of  the  Renaissance  ;  Laurentius  Valla  (d.  1465)  .  389 
The  service  of  Humanism  and  its  limits  ;  the  academies     .         .  390 

Diffusion  of  Lutheran  writings  in  Italy 390 

Protestantism  in  Italy  a  thing  of  degrees 391 

The  Oratory  of  Divine  Love ;  Contarini  ....       392 

The  reformed  opinions  in  Ferrara ;  the  Duchess  Renee  (1527)   .  392 

Protestantism  in  other  cities 393 

In  Naples;  Juan  Valdez  (circa  1530) 394 

Ochino  and  Peter  Martyr 394 

Paleario's  treatise  on  the  "  Benefits  of  Christ "   ....  395 

The  Sacramentarian  dispute 395 

Paul  III.  (1534-49)  favors  the  Catholic  reforming  party  (1537)    395 

Contarini  at  Ratisbon  (1541) 396 

Caraffa  leads  the  rigidly  orthodox  party  of  reform      .         .         .  396 

New  orders;  the  Theatins  (1524) 397 

Ignatius  Loyola   (1491^-1556)  founds  the  order  of  the  Jesuits 

(1540) 398 

His  book  of  "  Spiritual  Exercises  " 399 

The  constitution  of  the  Jesuit  order 400 

The  Council  of  Trent  (1545-1563) 400 

Its  definitions  are  anti-Protestant 401 

Its  practical  work  in  the  way  of  reform  .....  402 
The  Council  serves  to  consolidate  the  Catholic  Church  .  .402 
The  Inquisition  ;  its  history  ;  the  Spanish  Inquisition  .  .  403 
The  Inquisition  in  Italy  (1543),  how  organized  ....  404 
Flight  of  Ochino  (1542),  Peter  Martyr  (1542),  Vergerio  (1548)    404 


XXV111  CONTENTS. 

Persecution  of  Protestants 405 

Suppression  of  Books  ;  the  Index  Prohibitorius  (1557)  .       405 

The  Index  Expurgatorius    ......         i        .  406 

Persecution  of  Evangelical  Catholics        .....       406 

Extirpation  of  Protestantism  in  Italy 406 

Introduction  of  Protestantism  into  Spain  ....  406 
Converts  to  Protestantism  at  Seville  and  Valladolid  .  .  .407 
Reception  of  the  doctrine  of  Justification  by  Faith         .         .       408 

Autos  da  fe  (1559-60) 408 

Success  of  the  Inquisition         .......       409 

Persecution  of  the  Evangelical  Catholics  ;  Carranza  (1558-1576)  409 
Attitude  of  the  Popes  in  respect  to  the  Catholic  Reaction  ;  Paul 

IV.  (1555-59)  ;  Pius  IV.  (1559-65)  ;  Pius  V.  (1566-72)  .  411 
Sixtus  V.  excommunicates  Henry  IV.  (1585),  and  supports  the 

League 412 

Change  in  the  intellectual  spirit  of  Italy;  Tasso  (1544-95)  ;  the 

new  schools  of  painting 412 

Carlo  Borromeo's  private  virtues  and  Christian  work  (1538-84)  413 
The  Jesuits  as  educators  .         .         .         .    t     .         .         .413 

They  extend  their  influence  in  Europe 414 

Countries  recovered  to  the  Church  of  Rome  ....  414 
Causes  of  the  check  of  Protestantism  ;  Macaulay's  discussion-    .  415 

The  crystallizing  of  parties 415 

Political  arrangements 416 

The  removal  of  abuses  in  the  Church  of  Rome  .  .  .  417 
Protestants  waste  their  strength  in  contests  with  one  another  .  417 
The  better  organization  of  the  Roman  Catholics  .  .  .417 
They  use  the  varieties  of  talents  and  character  .  .  .  .418 
More  rooted  attachment  in   Southern  Europe  to  the  Church  of 

Rome 418 

Discord  arises  in  the  Roman  Catholic  Party ;  its  effect         .         .419 


CHAPTER  XH. 

THE      STRUGGLE      OF      PROTESTANTISM      IN      THE      SEVENTEENTH 
CENTURY. 

Reverses  experienced  by  the  Catholic  Reaction        .         .         .       421 
Principal  topics  to  be  considered  ......  421 

Failure  of  Charles  V.  to  subjugate  the  Protestants  .         .       422 

Effect  of  the   Peace  of  Augsburg  (1555)  ;  Philip  II.    not   sup- 
ported by  Ferdinand  I.  and  Maximilian  II.  ...  422 

Their  successors  under  the  sway  of  the  Jesuits  and  the  Catholic 

Reaction 423 


CONTENTS.  XXIX 

Origin  of  the  Thirty  Years'  War  (1618-1648)  .  .  .  .423 
The  Evangelical   Union   (1608);  the   Catholic  League  led  by 

Maximilian  of  Bavaria  (1609) 424 

The  Bohemians  revolt  against  Ferdinand  II ;  give  their  crown 

to  Frederic  V.,  the  Elector  Palatine  (1619)  .         .         .  424 

Bigotry  of  Ferdinand  II.,  and  of  the  Elector  .         .         .       425 

Defeat  of  the  Bohemians  ;  conquest  of  the  Palatinate  (1622)  .  425 
Triple  alliance  for  the  restoration  of  the  Elector  (1625)  .       425 

Failure  of  the  Danish  intervention  (1626-1629)  .         .         .426 

Wallenstein  delivers  Ferdinand  from  subjection  to  the  League  426 
The  constitution  of  the  armies ;  the  miseries  of  the  war  .       426 

Victories  of  Wallenstein  and  of  Tilly  (1626-29)  .  .  .427 
The  Edict  of  Restitution  (1629)  ;  the  removal  of  Wallenstein 

(1630) 427 

Intervention  of  Gustavus  Adolphus  (1630)  ;  his   character  and 

motives 428 

Victories   of  Gustavus;  Wallenstein  reappointed    (1632);   the 

battle  of  Lutzen  (1632) 429 

Influence  of  Richelieu  (1624-1642)  ;  ground  of  French  inter- 
vention   429 

The  death  of  Wallenstein  (1634) 430 

Predominance  of  Richelieu  in  the  conduct  of  the  war  (1634)      .  431 

The  struggle  protracted,  and  why 431 

The  Peace  of  Westphalia  (1648) 432 

Position  of  England  under  the  Stuarts  ....       433 

Widening  gulf  between  Anglicans  and  Puritans  .         .         .433 

Hostility  of  James  I.  (1603-25)  to  the  Puritans;  the  Hampton 

Court  Conference  (1604) 434 

Charles  L  (1625-49)  ;  his  arbitrary  system  of  government  .  436 

Archbishop  Laud  (1633) 436 

The  League  and  Covenant  of  the  Scots  (1638)  .         .'         .437 

The  war  between  King  and  Parliament  (1642)  .  .  .  437 
The  Westminster  Assembly  ;  parties  in  it  (1642)  .  .  .  437 
Establishment  of  Presbyterianism  ;  how  limited  .  .  .  438 
Cromwell  (1653-58)  and  the  Independents  ....  439 

The  settlers  of  New  England  (1620) 440 

Their  ecclesiastical  system 440 

Distinction  between  the  Massachusetts  and  Plymouth  settlers  440 
Protestantism  in  Europe  protected  by  Cromwell  .  .  .441 
Restoration  of  Charles  II.  (1660)  ;  how  effected  .         .         .441 

The  Presbyterians  are  deceived  by  the  King  .         .         .         .442 

The  Savoy  Conference  (1661) 442 

Ejection  of  the  Puritan  ministers  (1662)  ....       443 


3CKX  CONTENTS. 

Demoralization  of  the  English  Court 443 

Alliance  of  Charles  II.  and  Louis  XIV.  (1670)  .  .  .  443 
Real  designs  of  Charles  betrayed  .....*.  444 
James  II.  (1685-88)  ;  the  Court  of  High  Commission  (1686)  444 
He  endeavors  to  win  the  support  of  the  Puritans  (1687)  .       444 

The-  Revolution  of  1688 444 

The  Act  of  Toleration 445 

Failure  of  the  Comprehension  Bill 445 

Permanent  establishment  of  Presbyterianism  in  Scotland  (1690)  446 
Persecution  of  the  Covenanters  under  James  II.  .         .447 

Effect  of  Henry  IV.'s  death  (1589)  on  the  French  policy  .  .447 
Revolt  of  the  Huguenots  (1621)  ;  its  causes  and  effect  .  .  447 
Louis  XIII.  (1610-1643)  ;  the  aims  of  Richelieu  (1624-42)  .  448 
His   domestic  policy  ;  his  destruction  of  the  Huguenot  power 

(1628) 449 

Louis  XIV.  (1651-1715)  ;  his  designs  in  respect  to  France  and 

to  foreign  powers  ........  450 

The    Assembly  of    1682 ;   the   Four   Propositions   of    Gallican 

liberty 450 

Adjustment  with  Innocent  XII.  (1691-1700)  ;  the  work  of  Bos- 
suet       ...........  451 

Jansenism         ..........       451 

Declining  reputation  of  the  Jesuits  ;  Pascal  (1623-62)  .  .  452 
Suppression  of  Port  Royal  1710  ;  persecution  of  the  Jansenists  452 
Persecution   of  the   Huguenots ;    Revocation   of  the   Edict   of 

Nantes  (1685) 453 

Its  effect  on  France 454 

Wars  kindled  by  the  ambition  of  Louis  XIV.  .         .         .       455 

William  of  Orange  (1650-1702),  his  antagonist  .         .         .  456 

The  result 456 

Prostration  of  the  Catholic  Reaction 456 

Feebleness  of  the  Papacy 457 

Effect  of  the  persecution  of  the   Jansenists  on  the  Catholic 

Church 457 

Approach  of  the  era  of  revolutions 458 


CHAPTER  XHL 

THE   PROTESTANT   THEOLOGY. 

Two  fundamental  principles  of  Protestantism      ....  459 
No   controversy  between   the  two   parties   on  the  Trinity  and 

Atonement 459 


CONTENTS. 


XXXI 


Their  difference  on  the  doctrine  of  sin 460 

The  Protestant  doctrine  of  justification  ....       4G0 

The  relation  of  ethics  to  religion 461 

Protestant  doctrine  of  the  exclusive  authority  of  the  Scriptures  462 
Agreement  of  the  Protestant  Churches  on  this  point  .  .  462 
The  two  Protestant  principles  unite  in  one  ....  463 

Roman  C;itholic  doctrine  of  justification  ....       463 

The  Protestant  doctrine  respecting  the  Church  ....  465 
The  Roman  Catholic  doctrine  respecting  the  Church  .  .  465 
Respecting  tradition     .........  465 

L— -Respecting  the  sacraments 466 

Sense  of  the  phrase,  ex  opere  operato  .         .         .         .         .467 

Modifications  of  the  Roman  Catholic  view  .  .  .  .467 
Roman  Catholic  doctrine  of  the  priesthood  ....  468 

Protestants  maintain  a  universal  priesthood  of  believers  .       468 

4_    Protestant  view  of  the  number  and  design  of  the  sacraments       .469 
^Effect  of  the  Protestant  view  of  justification  upon  various  dog- 
mas and  practices     .         .         .         .         .         •         •         .470 

Protestant  controversies  on  predestination 472 

Arminianism  and  its  leaders  (1610)  .         .         .         .         .       472 

Political  division  between  Arminians  and  Calvinists  in  Holland     473 

The  Synod  of  Dort  (1616) 474 

Arminian  view  of  original  sin  and  of  the  atonement  .  .  474 
General  character  of  the  Arminian  theologians  .         .         .         .475 

The  Anabaptists 475 

The  Antitrinitarians  of  the  age  of  the  Reformation    .         .         .477 

Rise  of  Unitarianism  in  Italy 477 

Faustus  Socinus  (1539-1604)      .......  478 

The  Socinian  theology .         .479 


Efforts  to  unite  Lutherans  and  Calvinists   . 
Efforts  to  unite  Protestants  and  Roman  Catholics 
The  endeavors  of  Grotius  (1642) 

His  doctrinal  position 

Leibnitz  and  Bossuet 

End  of  the  efforts  at  reunion 


481 
481 
482 
483 
484 
486 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

THE    CONSTITUTION    OF    THE    PROTESTANT   CHURCHES    AND    THEIR 
RELATION    TO    THE    CIVIL    AUTHORITY. 

Organization  of  Protestantism  not  uniform  in  the  different  coun- 

tries 487 

Protestants  united  in  opposing  Church  government  by  a  priest- 
hood   48S 

489 
489 


The  principles  of  Luther  respecting  church  polity 
Not  realized  and  why 


Luther  and  Melancthon  on  the  authority  of  civil  rulers  in  the 

Church 489 

Two  characteristic  features  of  the  Lutheran  polity  .         .       491 

Origin  of  consistories 491 

The  Synod  of  Homberg  in  Hesse 492 

Luther's  opinion  of  its  plan  of  Church  government     .         .         .  493 
Ecclesiastical  government  by  princes  in  Lutheran  states  .         .       494 
Theories  on  which  it  was  founded        ......  494 

Church  government  in  the  Reformed  Churches        .         .         .495 

Zwingle's  system 495 

Calvin's  theory  of  Church  government 497 

The  civil  authority  bound  to  suppress  error         .         .         .         .497 

The  Presbyterian  constitution  in  France  and  in  Scotland         .       498 
The  Anglican  establishment         .......  499 

Various  theories ;  Erastianism ;  Hooker  ....       500 

Warburton's  theory ;  Coleridge's  theory 501 

Gladstone;  Chalmers;  Macaulay 502 

Convocation  in  the  English  Church 504 

Bellarmine  on  the  indirect  authority  of  the  Pope  in  relation  to 

the  temporal  power  .         . 504 

The  Jesuits  advocate  popular  sovereignty 505 

Protestants  maintain  the  divine  right  of  kings  .         .         .       506 

The  system  of  the  New  England  colonists  ....  506 

Distinction  between  Plymouth  and  Massachusetts    .         .         .507 

The  New  England  Ecclesiastical  System 508 

Roger  Williams  advocates  religious  liberty  (circa  1635)  .         .       508 
The  Roman  Catholic  Church  in  the  United  States      .         .         .509 


CONTENTS. 


XXXlll 


CHAPTER  XV. 


THE    RELATION    OF    PROTESTANTISM    TO    CULTUKK     AND    CIVILIZA- 
TION. 

Necessary  to  consider  facts  in  connection  with  principles 
General  comparison  of  Catholic  and  Protestant  nations 
Passage  from  Macaulay    ....... 

Passage  from  Carlyle  ....... 

Influence  of  Protestantism  upon  liberty  .... 

Political  effects  of  the  Reformation     .... 

What  Protestantism  did  for  liberty  in  Europe 

In  the  United  States 

Protestants  have  been  guilty  of  persecution     . 
This  admitted  to  be  inconsistent  with  their  principles 
Roman  Catholics,  how  far  responsible  now  for  persecution 
Influence  of  the  Reformation  on  literature  and  science 

The  complaints  of  Erasmus 

Effect  of  the  extinction  of  Protestantism  in  Spain 
Loss  of  intellectual  freedom  and  activity 
Effect  of  the  extinction  of  Protestantism  in  Italy 
Decline  of  literature  and  art    .         .         . 

Persecution  of  Galileo  bij .    • 

The  grounds  of  his  condemnation    ... 

Literature  in  France    ....... 

The  Prohibitory  and  Expurgatory  Indexes      . 
Effect  of  the  censorship  of  books,  on  Italy  . 
Censorship  of  books  in  Protestant  countries    . 
The  press  in  the  Puritan  period  ;  Milton     . 
The  press  after  the  Restoration        .... 

Education  by  the  Jesuits  and  their  scholarship    . 
The  reading  of  the  Bible ;  policy  of  the  Church  of  Rome 
"Why  the  laity  first  neglected  the  Bible 
Intellectual  effect  of  the  reading  of  the  Bible  in  Protestant  coun- 
tries   532 

Influence  of  the  Reformation  on  English  Literature  .  .  .  532 
Religious  tone  of  Elizabethan  writers  .....  533 
Effect  of  the  Reformation  on  the  German  intellect  .  .  .  534 
Its  intellectual  effect  in  Holland  and  Scotland  .         .         .535 

Influence  of  the  Reformation  on  Philosophy         ....  536 

The  Reformers'  opinion  of  Aristotle 536 

Renovation  of  philosophy  by  Bacon  and  Des  Cartes  .  .  .537 
Bacon's  tendency  congenial  with  Protestantism        .         .         .537 


XXXIV 


CONTENTS. 


The  Cartesian  method  in  contrast  with  the  Mediaeval 

Personal  history  and  relations  of  Des  Cartes  (1596-1650) 

His  system  condemned  by  the  Sorbonne 

Influence  of  the  Reformation  on  other  sciences 

Protestantism  and  the  Fine  Arts 

Comparison  of  the  German  and  the  Latin  nations 

Art  in  the  Netherlands        . 

v.flWf  of  the  Reformation  on  Religion     . 

Religion  essential  to  civilization 

Origin  of  infidelity  in  Europe 

Protestant  dogmatism  provokes  a  revolt 

This  is  carried  to  an  extreme  .... 

Rise  and  spread  of  Deism  .... 

Transition  to  Pantheism  .... 

Scepticism  in  Roman  Catholic  countries 

German  Rationalism  ;  its  two  forms 

Rise  of  the  Critical  School  .... 

Deistic  and  Pantheistic  Rationalism 

Schleiermacher 

Neander  on  the  origin  and  types  of  Rationalism 
Multiplying  of  Protestant  sects  .... 
Its  effects  .         .         .         . 

Source  of  these  divisions 

Tendency  to  unity 

Principle  of  progress  in  Protestantism 
Protestant  and  Catholic  Missions     . 
Christianity  not  hostile  to  culture 
Error  of  the  Middle  Ages         .... 
Protestantism  avoids  it 


538 
538 
539 
540 
540 
540 
541 
541 
541 
542 
543 
5  43 
543 
44 

545 
545 
546 
546 
546 
548 
548 
549 
550 
550 
550 
551 
552 
552 


APPENDIX. 


I.  A  Chronological  Table    . 
II.  A  List  of  Books  on  the  Reformation 
INDEX 


555 
567 
593 


THE    EEFOEMATIOE". 


CHAPTER  L 

INTRODUCTION  :    THE   GENERAL   CHARACTER    OF   THE 
REFORMATION. 

The  four  most  prominent  events  of  modern  history  are 
the  invasion  of  the  barbarians,  which  blended  the  Ger- 
man and  Roman  elements  of  civilization,  and  subjected 
the  new  nations  to  the  influence  of  Christianity ;  the 
crusades,  which  broke  up  the  stagnation  of  European 
society,  and  by  inflicting  a  blow  upon  the  feudal  system 
opened  a  path  for  the  centralization  of  the  nations  and 
governments  of  Europe ;  the  Reformation,  in  which  re- 
ligion was  purified  and  the  human  mind  emancipated 
from  sacerdotal  authority  ;  and  the  French  Revolution,  a 
tremendous  struggle  for  political  equality.  The  Refor- 
mation, like  these  other  great  social  convulsions,  was  long 
in  preparation.  Of  the  French  Revolution,  the  last  upon 
the  list  of  historical  epochs  of  capital  importance,  De 
Tocqueville  observes :  "It  was  least  of  all  a  fortuitous 
event.  It  is  true  that  it  took  the  world  by  surprise  ;  and 
yet  it  was  only  the  completion  of  travail  most  prolonged, 
the  sudden  and  violent  termination  of  a  work  on  which 
ten  generations  had  been  laboring." l  The  method  of 
Providence  in  history  is  never  magical.  In  proportion  to 
the  magnitude  of  the  catastrophe  are  the  length  of  time 
and  the  variety  of  agencies  which  are  employed  in  pro- 

1  Ancien  Regime  et  la  Revolution  (7th  ed.,  186G),  p.  31. 

1 


2  TrfE   REFORMATION. 

ducing  it.  Events,  because  they  are  unexpected  and 
startling,  are  not  to  be  ascribed  merely  to  some  proxi- 
mate antecedent.  The  Protestant  movement  'is  often 
looked  upon  as  hardly  less  preternatural  and  astonishing 
than  would  be  the  rising  of  the  sun  at  midnight.  But 
the  more  it  is  examined,  the  less  does  it  wear  this  mar- 
velous aspect.  In  truth,  never  was  a  historical  crisis 
more  elaborately  prepared,  and  this  through  a  train  of 
causes  which  reach  back  into  the  remote  past.  Nor  is  it 
the  fact  that  such  events  are  wholly  out  of  the  reach  of 
human  foresight ;  they  cast  their  shadows  before  ;  they 
are  the  object  of  presentiments  more  or  less  distinct, 
sometimes  of  definite  prediction.1 

But  in  avoiding  one  extreme  we  are  not  to  fall  into  the 
opposite.  We  must  take  into  account  the  personal  qual- 
ities and  the  plastic  agency  of  individuals  not  less  than 
the  operation  of  general  causes.  Especially  if  a  revolu- 
tion in  long  established  opinions  and  habits  of  feeling  is 
to  take  place,  there  must  be  individuals  to  rally  upon  ; 
men  of  power  who  are  able  to  create  and  sustain  in 
others  a  new  moral  life  which  they  have  first  realized  in 
themselves. 

Notwithstanding  that  three  centuries  have  since  elapsed, 
the  real  origin  and  significance  of  the  Reformation  remain 
a  subject  of  controversy.  The  rapid  spread  of  Luther's 
opinions  was  attributed  by  at  least  one  of  his  contem- 
poraries "to  a  certain  uncommon  and  malignant  position 
of  the  stars,  which  scattered  the  spirit  of  giddiness  and 

1  Twenty  years  before  the  accession  of  Louis  XVI.,  Lord  Chesterfield  wrote: 
"  In  short,  all  the  symptoms  which  I  have  ever  met  with  in  history,  previous  to 
great  changes  and  revolutions  in  government,  now  exist  and  daily  increase  in 
France."  Chesterfield's  Letters  (Dec.  25,  1753)  ;  quoted  by  Carlyle,  History  of 
tl,<  I'ri  rich  Revolution,  eh.  ii.  In  the  fifteenth  century,  there  were  able  men 
who  looked  forward  to  an  ecclesiastical  revolution.  Cardinal  Julian  Caisarini. 
who  as  papal  legate  presided  at  the  Council  of  Basle,  in  a  letter  to  Pope  Eugene 
IV.,  in  1431,  predicted  a  great  uprising  of  the  laity  for  the  overthrow  of  a  cor- 
rupt clergy,  and  a  heresy  more  formidable  than  that  of  the  Bohemians.  Epttst. 
I.  Julian,  Card.,  in  the  Opera  JEfiea  Bylvii,  p.  66.  It  is  given  in  part  !>v 
Raynaldus.  U.'U,  No.  22  :  extracts  in  Giescler,  Period,  m.  v.  e-  1,  §  VV2.  n.  6. 


THEORIES   RESPECTING    THE   REFORMATION.  3 

innovation  over  the  world."  1  Although  the  astrological 
solution  has  no  advocates  left,  it  was  not  wholly  implau- 
sible in  that  age  when  the  ancient  art  of  foretelling  the 
future  by  an  inspection  of  the  stars  counted  among  its 
believers  so  accomplished  a  scholar  as  Melancthon,  a 
statesman  as  sagacious  as  Burleigh,  and  a  far-sighted 
ecclesiastic  like  Pope  Paul  III.,  "  who  appointed  no  im- 
portant sitting  of  the  consistory,  undertook  no  journey, 
without  observing  the  constellations  and  choosing  the  day 
which  appeared  to  him  recommended  by  their  aspect."  2 

But  other  explanations  of  the  Protestant  movement, 
which  are  hardly  less  imaginary  and  inadequate,  have 
been  gravely  suggested.  When  the  reigning  Pope,  Leo 
X.,  heard  of  the  commotion  that  had  arisen  in  Saxony,  he 
pronounced  it  a  squabble  of  monks.  This  judgment, 
which,  considering  the  time  and  the  source  from  which  it 
came,  may  not  occasion  much  surprise,  is  reechoed  by 
writers  so  antagonistic  to  one  another  in  their  spirit  as 
Bossuet   and   Voltaire:  one  the   champion  of   the  anti- 

1  Jovii,  Historia,  Lut.  1553,  p.  134;  quoted  by  Robertson,  History  of  Charles 
V.,  book  ii. 

2  Ranke,  History  of  the  Pojies  (Miss  Austin's  transl.),  i«  249,  263.  On  the 
influence  of  astrology  in  Italy,  from  the  thirteenth  century,  see  Burckhardt, 
Die  Cultur  d.  Renaissance  in  Italien,  p.  512  seq.  In  vain  was  it  attacked  by 
Petrarch,  and,  in  common  with  alchemy,  denounced  by  some  of  the  popes. 
Melancthon  professes  his  faith  in  astrology.  Corpus  Reformat  orum,  iii.  516. 
But  the  free-thinking  Pomponazzi,  and  the  celebrated  publicist Bodin,  shared  in 
this  credulity.  (See  Lecky,  History  of  Rationalism  in  Europe,  i.  284.')  Cecil 
consulted  astrology  respecting  Queen  Elizabeth's  marriage.  In  the  sixteenth 
century,  the  famous  astrologist,  Nostradamus,  was  patronized  by  Henry  II. 
and  Charles  IX.,  and  was  visited  in  his  retreat  at  Salon  by  persons  of  the  highest 
distinction.  Even  the  great  astronomers,  Tycho  Brahe  and  Kepler,  did  not 
give  up  the  faith  in  astrology.  The  latter,  from  a  study  of  the  constellations 
under  which  Wallenstein  was  born,  described  his  character  (Ranke,  Geschickte 
Wallensteins,  p.  1).  Wallenstein's  own  devotion  to  astrology  is  made  familiar 
by  the  dramas  of  Schiller.  Lord  Bacon,  although  he  pronounces  astrology 
"so  full  of  superstition  that  scarce  anything  sound  can  be  discovered  in  it," 
would  still  "  rather  have  it  purified  than  altogether  rejected,"  and  admits  into 
"Sane  Astrology,"  predictions  of  seditions,  schisms,  and  "all  commotions  or 
greater  revolutions  of  things,  natural  as  well  as  civil."  De  Auy.  Scient.,  in. 
iv.  It  is  only  as  a  branch  of  physics  and  on  the  basis  of  induction,  however, 
that  ho  allows  any  place  for  astrology. 


4  THE   REFORMATION. 

protestant  theology,  and  the  other  the  leader  of  the  party 
of  free-thinkers  in  the  last  century.1  Even  a  living  Ger- 
man historian,  a  learned  as  well  as  brilliant  writer,  speaks 
of  the  Reformation  as  an  academical  quarrel  that  served 
as  a  nucleus  for  all  the  discontent  of  a  turbulent  age.2 
It  is  true  that  an  Augustinian  monk  began  the  conflict  by 
assailing  certain  practices  of  a  Dominican,  that  each 
found  much  support  in  his  own  order,  and  that  the  rival 
universities  of  Wittenberg  and  Leipsic  enlisted  on  oppo- 
site sides  in  the  strife.  But  these  are  mere  incidents.  To 
bring  them  forward  as  principal  causes  of  a  mighty  his- 
toric change,  is  little  short  of  trifling.3  A  class  of  persons 
dispose  of  the  whole  question  in  a  summary  manner  by 
calling  the  Reformation  a  new  phase  of  the  old  conflict 
which  the  Popes  had  waged  with  the  Hohenstaufen  Em- 
perors ;  of  the  struggle  between  civil  and  ecclesiastical 
authority.  But  the  Reformation  was  not  confined  to 
Germany  :  it  was  a  European  movement  that  involved  a 
religious  revolution  in  the  Teutonic  nations,  and  power- 
fully affected  the  character  and  destiny  of  the  Romanic 
peoples  among  which  it  failed  to  triumph.  Moreover, 
while  the  political  side  of  the  Reformation  is  of  great 
importance,  both  in  the  investigation  of  the  causes  and 
effects  of  Protestantism,  this  is  far  from  being  the  exclu- 
sive or  even  predominant  element  in  the  problem.  Polit- 
ical agencies  were  rather  an  efficient  auxiliary  than  a 
direct  and  principal  cause. 

Guizot  has  presented  his  views  respecting  the  nature 

1  Voltaire,  Essai  sur  les  Mceurs,  ch.  127,  Diet.  Phil.  (Art.  CUmat)  :  Bossuet, 
Variation*  dts  Prut.  ;  CEuvres,  v.  521.  The  same  thing  is  said  by  Iluine. 
"Martin  Luther,  an  Austin  friar,  professor  in  the  University  of  Wittenberg, 
resenting  the  affront  put  upon  his  order,"  etc.     History  of  England,  ch.  xxix. 

-  Leo.  Unirersalgeschicltte,  iii.  e.  2. 

3  There  is  not  the  ^li^litest  ground  for  the  notion  that  Luther  was  actuated  by 
resentment  at  a  slight  upon  his  order.  As  if  the  disposal  of  indulgences  were  an 
honor  that  he  coveted!  Bui  it  is  not  true  that  this  business  had  been  usually 
piven  to  the  Augustinians.  Sec  Pallavicini,  lib.  i.  c.  3,  §  7  ;  Waddington, 
History  of  the  Reformation,  i.  134.  The  origin  of  this  imputation  of  jealousy 
is  traced  bv  Giesclcr,  Church  I  list  fry,  iv.  1. 1  §  1,  n.  17. 


THEORIES   RESPECTING   THE   REFORMATION.  5 

of  the  Reformation,  in  a  lecture  devoted  to  this  topic.1 
The  Reformation,  in  his  judgment,  was  an  effort  to  deliver 
human  reason  from  the  bonds  of  authority  ;  "  it  was  an 
insurrection  of  the  human  mind  against  the  absolute 
power  of  the  spiritual  order."  It  was  not  an  accident, 
the  result  of  some  casual  circumstance  ;  it  was  not  simply 
an  effort  to  purify  the  Church.  The  comprehensive  and 
most  powerful  cause  was  the  desire  of  the  human  mind 
for  freedom.  Free  thought  and  inquiry  are  the  legiti- 
mate product,  the  real  intent  of  the  movement.  Such  is 
Guizot's  interpretation.  But  he  is  careful  to  add  that  his 
definition  does  not  describe  the  conscious  purpose  of  the 
actors  who  achieved  the  revolution.  The  Reformation, 
he  says,  "  in  this  respect  performed  more  than  it  under- 
took, —  more,  probably,  than  it  desired."  "  In  point  of 
fact,  it  produced  the  prevalence  of  free  inquiry  ;  in  point 
of  principle,  it  believed  that  it  was  substituting  a  legiti- 
mate for  an  illegitimate  power."  The  distinction  between 
the  conscious  aims  of  the  .leaders  in  a  revolution,  and  the 
real  drift  and  ultimate  effect  of  their  work  ;  between  the 
direct  end  which  they  endeavor  to  secure,  and  the  deeper, 
hidden  impulse,  the  undercurrent  by  which  they  are 
really  impelled,  is  one  that  is  proper  to  be  made.  It 
would  appear  evident,  also,  that  the  overthrow  of  the 
authority  of  the  Church  must  affect  the  principle  of  au- 
thority in  general ;  so  far,  at  least,  as  eventually  to  lead 
to  a  scrutiny  of  the  foundations  of  authority  wherever  it 
is  assumed  to  exist.  Yet  we  venture  to  consider  the  in- 
terpretation of  Guizot  defective  as  confining  the  import 
and  effect  of  the  Reformation  within  too  narrow  limits. 
The  Reformation  claimed  to  be  a  reform  of  religion  :  it 
was  certainly  a  religious  revolution  ;  and  religion  is  so 
great  a  concern  of  man  and  so  deep  and  pervasive  in  its 
influence,  that  this  distinctive  feature  of  the  Reformation 
must  be  held  to  belong   to   its   essential  character.     In 

1  General  History  of  Civilization  in  Europe,  lect.  xii. 


6  THE   REFORMATION. 

other  words,  the  ultimate  motive  and  final  effect  is  not  lib- 
erty alone,  but  the  improvement  of  religion  likewise.1 

There  is  a  class  of  writers  who  would  make  the  Refor- 
mation a  transitional  era,  paving  the  way  for  freethink- 
ing  or  unbelief.  We  might  say  that  there  are  two  classes 
who  advocate  this  view.  On  the  one  hand  Roman 
Catholic  writers  have  frequently  declared  Protestantism 
the  natural  parent  of  Rationalism ;  and  on  the  other 
hand,  Rationalists  themselves,  who  reject  Christianity  as 
a  supernatural  and  authoritative  system,  have  applauded 
the  Reformation  as  a  step  toward  their  position.  Both 
classes  of  critics  proceed  on  the  assumption,  that  the 
Christian  religion  is  so  far  coincident  with  the  mediaeval 
system,  that  the  fall  of  the  latter  logically  carries  with  it 
the  abolition  of  the  former.  Time  was  required  for  these 
latent  tendencies  of  Protestantism  to  develop  themselves ; 
they  were  hidden  from  the  eyes  of  the  Reformers  them- 
selves ;  but,  it  is  alleged,  they  have  since  become  appar- 
ent. This  character  was  imputed  to  Protestantism,  on 
its  first  appearance,  by  its  enemies,  and  is  often  charged 
upon  it  by  its  theological  adversaries  at  the  present  day.2 
Thus,  Balmes,  the  author  of  an  extensive  work  on  the 
comparative  effects  of  Catholicism  and  Protestantism 
upon  civilization,  maintains  that  the  system  which  he 
opposes  leads  to  atheism.3  Another  recent  Catholic  writer 
affirms,  that  "  the  principle  of  Rationalism  is  inherent 
in  the  very  nature  of  Protestantism."  4     For  the  opinions 

1  Elsewhere  Guizot  himself  says  that  the  Reformation  was  essentially  and 
from  the  very  first  a  religious  reform  ;  and  that,  as  to  politics,  "they  were  its 
necessary  means  hut  not  its  chief  aim."  —  St.  Louis  and  Calvin,  p.  150. 

2  Montaigne  states  that  his  father  began  to  instruct  his  family  in  natural 
theology,  on  the  first  appearance  of  Protestantism,  from  the  belief  that  it  would 
lead  to  atheism.  —  Essais,  n.  xii. 

8  Protestantism  and  Catholicism  compared  in  their  Effects  on  the  Civilization 
of  Europe.  (English  translation,  Baltimore,  1851),  p.  60,  and  the  note,  p.  428. 

4  J.  B.  Robertson,  Esq.,  in  the  Life  of  Dr.  J.  A.  Milder,  prefixed  to  the  Eng- 
lish translation  of  Mohler's  Symbolism,  p.  xxxiii.  But  Mohler  himself  appears 
to  dissent  from  the  usual  Catholic  representation  on  this  point,  and  to  regard 
Rationalism  as   the  opposite  of   primitive   Protestantism.     Part  n.   §  liv.     In 


RELATION    OF    PROTESTANTISM   TO   RATIONALISM.  7 

of  the  free-thinking  school  on  this  point,  we  may  refer 
to  the  series  of  historical  works  by  M.  Laurent,  which 
contain  much  valuable  information,  especially  upon  the 
Middle  Ages.1  This  writer  holds  that  Christianity  itself 
is  to  give  place  to  a  religion  of  the  future,  the  precise 
character  of  which  he  does  not  pretend  to  describe.  He 
declares  that  revealed  religion  stands  or  falls  with  the 
Papacy,  and  that  Protestantism  "leads  to  the  denial  of 
the  fundamental  dogmas  of  historical  Christianity."  a 
He  hails  the  Reformation  as  an  intermediate  stage  in  the 
progress  of  mankind  to  that  higher  plane  where  Chris- 
tianity is  to  be  superseded.  Whether  Protestantism  fos- 
ters infidelity  or  not  is  a  question  which  can  be  more  intel- 
ligently considered  hereafter.  It  may  be  observed  here, 
however,  that  the  Reformers  themselves  considered  that 
their  work  arrested  the  progress  of  unbelief  and  saved  the 
religion  of  Europe.  Luther  says  that  such  were  the 
ecclesiastical  abuses  in  Germany  that  frightful  disorders 
would  infallibly  have  arisen,  that  all  religion  would  have 
perished,  and  Christians  have  become  Epicureans.3  The 
infidelity  that  had  taken  root  and  sprung  up  in  the  strong- 
holds of  the  Church,  in  connection  with  the  revival  of 
classical  learning,  threatened  to  spread  over  Europe. 
Melancthon,  in  a  familiar  letter  to  a  friend,  affirms  that 
far  more  serious  disturbances — longe  graviores  tumultus 
—  would  have  broken  out,  if  Luther  had  not  appeared 
and  turned  the  studies  of  men  in  another  direction.4  The 
Reformation  brought  a  revival  of  religious  feeling,  and 
resulted,  by    a  reactionary  influence,  in  a   great  quick- 

another  place,  however,  he  finds  in  pantheism  a  logical  result  of  Protestant 
views  of  predestination.  §  27. 

1  The  title  of  the  series  is  Etudes  sur  V Histoire  de  V Humanite,  par  F.  Lau- 
rent, Professeur  a  1' University  de  Gand. 

2  "  Le  protestantisme  conduit  a  la  negation  des  dogmes  fondamentaux  du 
christjanisme  historique." —  La  Papaute  et  V Empire  (Paris,  1860),  p.  41. 

8  De  Wette,  Luther's  Briefe,  iii.  439. 

4  Ad  Camerarium  (1529),  Corpus  Re. f.,  i.  1083.     See  the  remarks  of  Neander, 
Wissenschaftliche  Abhandl.,  p.  G2. 


O  THE   REFORMATION. 

ening  of  religious  zeal  within  the  Catholic  body.  Laurent 
himself  elsewhere  affirms  that  in  the  sixteenth  century, 
religion  was  in  a  state  of  decadence  and  threatened  with 
ruin ; 1  that  Luther  effected  a  religious  revolution  in  the 
mind  of  an  age  that  was  inclined  to  infidelity  and  mov- 
ing toward  it  at  a  rapid  pace ; 2  that  he  was  a  reformer 
for  Catholicism  as  well  as  for  Protestantism  ;  that  the 
Reformation  was  the  foe  of  infidelity  and  saved  the 
Christian  world  from  it.  But  we  cannot  pursue  the  topic 
in  this  place.  Let  it  suffice  here  to  interpose  a  warning 
against  incautious  generalization. 

The  Reformation,  whatever  may  have  been  its  latent 
tendencies  and  ulterior  consequences,  was  an  event  within 
the  domain  of  religion.  From  this  point  of  view  it  must 
first,  and  prior  to  all  speculation  upon  its  indirect  and  re- 
mote results,  be  contemplated. 

What  was  the  fundamental  characteristic  of  this  revo- 
lution? Before,  a  vast  institution  had  been  interposed 
between  the  individual  and  the  objects  of  religious  faith 
and  hope.  The  Reformation  changed  all  this ;  it  opened 
to  the  individual  a  direct  access  to  the  heavenly  good  of- 
fered him  in  the  Gospel. 

The  German  nations  which  established  themselves  on 
the  ruins  of  the  Roman  Empire,  received  Christianity 
with  docility.  But  it  was  a  Christianity,  which,  though 
it  retained  vital  elements  of  the  primitive  doctrine,  had 
become  transformed  into  an  external  theocracy  with  its 
priesthood  and  ceremonies.  It  was  under  this  mixed 
system,  this  combination  of  the  Gospel  with  character- 
istic features  of  the  Judaic  dispensation,  that  the  new 
nations  were  trained.  Such  a  type  of  Christianity  had 
certain  advantages  in  relation  to  their  uncivilized  condition. 
Its  externality,  its  legal  character,  as  well  as  its  gorgeous 
ritual,  gave  it  a  peculiar  power  over  them.  But  all 
through  the  Middle  Ages,  whilst  the  outward,  theocratic 

1  La  Reforme,  p.  447.  2  j^d. f  p.  434. 


PROTESTANTISM    HAS    A   POSITIVE   SIDE.  9 

element  that  had  been  grafted  on  Christianity  developed 
itself  more  and  more  in  the  polity  and  worship  of  the 
Church,  the  reactionary  operation  of  the  primitive,  spir- 
itual idea  of  the  kingdom  of  God  was  likewise  more  and 
more  manifest.  Within  the  stately  and  imposing  fabric 
of  the  ecclesiastical  system,  there  was  a  force,  as  it  were, 
imprisoned,  struggling  for  freedom,  and  gradually  acquir- 
ing strength  sufficient  to  break  down  the  wall  that  con- 
fined it.  "  The  Reformation,  viewed  in  its  most  general 
character,  was  the  reaction  of  Christianity  as  Gospel 
against  Christianity  as  law."  a  It  must  also  be  remem- 
bered that  with  the  traditional  form  of  Christianity 
"  there  was  handed  down,  in  the  sacred  text  itself,  a 
source  of  divine  knowledge  not  exposed  in  like  manner 
to  corruption,  from  which  the  Church  might  learn  how  to 
distinguish  primitive  Christianity  from  all  subsequent  ad- 
ditions, and  so  carry  forward  the  work  of  purifying  the 
Christian  consciousness  to  its  entire  completion."  2 

Protestantism,  therefore,  had  a  positive  as  well  as  a  neg- 
ative side.  It  had  something  to  assert  as  well  as  some- 
thing to  deny.  If  it  discarded  one  interpretation  of 
Christianity,  it  espoused  another.  Old  beliefs  were  sub- 
verted, not  as  an  effect  of  a  mere  passion  for  revolt,  but 
through  the  expulsive  power  of  deeper  convictions,  a 
purer  apprehension  of  truth.  The  liberty  which  the 
Reformers  prized  first  and  chiefly  was  not  the  abstract 
right  to  choose  one's  creed  without  constraint,  but  a  lib- 
erty that  flows  from  the  unforced  appropriation  by  the 
soul,  of  truth  in  harmony  with  its  inmost  nature  and  its 
conscious  necessities. 

It  is  evident,  also,  from  the  foregoing  statement,  that  in 
Protestantism  there  was  an  objective  as  well  as  a  subjec- 
tive   factor.     The    new  type   of    religion,  deeply  rooted 

1  Ullman,  Reformatoren  vor  der  Reformation,  i.  p.  xiii. 

2  Neandor,  General  History  of  the  Christian  Religion  and  Church  (Torrey's 
transl.),  i il -  1  seq.  The  view  taken  in  the  paragraph  above  substantially  ac- 
cords with  that  of  Neander  in  the  passage  referred  to. 


10  THE    REFORMATION. 

though  it  was  in  subjective  impulses  and  convictions, 
owed  its  being  to  the  direct  contact  of  the  mind  with  the 
Scriptures.  In  them  it  found  alike  its  source' and  its 
regulative  norm.  This  distinguishes  Protestantism,  his- 
torically considered,  from  all  movements  on  the  plane  of 
natural  religion,  and  stamps  upon  it  a  distinctively  Chris- 
tian character.  The  new  spiritual  life  had  consciously  its 
fountain-head  in  the  writings  of  the  Prophets  and  Apos- 
tles. There  was  no  pretense  of  devising  a  new  religion, 
but  only  of  reforming  the  old,  according  to  its  own  au- 
thoritative standards. 

Yet  the  Protestant  Reformers,  in  transferring  their  al- 
legiance from  the  Church  to  the  Word  of  God,  practically 
asserted  a  right  of  private  judgment.  Their  proceeding 
was  founded  on  a  subjective,  personal  conviction.  Deny 
to  the  individual  this  ultimate  prerogative  of  deciding 
where  authority  in  matters  of  religion  is  rightfully  placed, 
and  then  what  the  acknowledged  rule  of  faith  means,  and 
their  whole  movement  becomes  indefensible,  irrational. 
Hence  intellectual  liberty,  freedom  of  thought  and  in- 
quiry, was  a  consequence  of  the  Reformation,  that  could 
not  fail  to  be  eventually  realized. 

But  while  the  Reformation  in  its  distinctive  character 
is  a  religious  event,  it  is  not  an  isolated  phenomenon. 
It  is  a  part  and  fruit  of  that  general  progress  of  society 
which  marks  the  fifteenth  century  and  the  opening  of  the 
sixteenth  as  the  period  of  transition  from  the  Middle 
Ages  to  modern  civilization.1  This  was  the  period  of 
inventions  and  discoveries  ;  when  the  magnetic  compass 
coining  into  general  use  enabled  adventurous  mariners 
to  steer  their  vessels  into  remote  seas ;  when  gunpowder 
revolutionized  the  art  of  war  by  lifting  the  peasant  to  the 
level  of  the  knight ;    when   printing   by  movable  types 

1  Weber,  WeUgeschichte,  ix.  307.  Duruy,  Hist,  des  Temps  Modernes  (1453- 
1789),  p.  1  seq.  J.  I.  Ritter,  Kirchengesc/iichte,  p.  142  seq.  Humboldt,  Cos- 
mos (Bonn's  ed.),  ii-  601,  G73,  683. 


THE   REFORMATION   NOT   AN   ISOLATED   EVENT.  11 

furnished  a  new  and  marvelous  means  of  diffusing  knowl- 
edge. It  was  the  era  of  great  nautical  discoveries  ;  when 
Columbus  added  another  hemisphere  to  the  world  as 
known  to  Europeans,  and  Vasco  da  Gama,  sailing  to  In- 
dia round  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  opened  a  new  highway 
for  commerce.  It  was  likewise  the  era  when  the  heavens 
were  explored,  and  Copernicus  discovered  the  true  system 
of  the  universe.  Then,  also,  the  masterpieces  of  ancient 
sculpture  and  the  literary  treasures  of  antiquity  were 
brought  forth  from  their  tombs.  It  was  the  period  of  a 
new  life  in  art,  the  age  of  Raphael  and  Michael  Angelo, 
of  Leonardo  da  Vinci  and  Albert  Diirer.  The  revived 
study  of  Greek  and  Latin  literature  was  directing  intel- 
lectual activity  into  new 'channels.  Equally  momentous 
was  the  change  in  the  political  life  of  Europe.  Monarchy 
having  gained  the  victory  over  feudalism,  the  principal 
kingdoms,  especially  France,  Spain,  and  England,  were 
becoming  consolidated.  The  invasion  of  Italy  by  Charles 
VIII. ,  in  1494,  commenced  the  wars  of  which  Italy  was  at 
once  the  theatre  and  the  prize,  and  the  conflicts  of  the 
European  States  for  the  acquisition  of  territory  or  of  as- 
cendency over  one  another.  To  the  intercourse  of  nations 
by  means  of  commerce,  which  had  spread  from  Venice, 
Genoa,  and  the  towns  of  the  Hanseatic  League,  through 
the  rest  of  Western  Europe,  was  added  the  intercourse  of 
diplomacy.  A  state-system  was  growing  up,  in  which 
the  several  peoples  were  more  closely  connected  by  political 
relations.  In  the  various  changes  by  which  the  transi- 
tional era  is  characterized,  the  Romanic  peoples  on  the 
whole  took  the  lead.  But  the  Reformation  in  religion 
was  not  their  work. 

As  Protestantism  in  its  origin  was  not  an  isolated  event, 
so  it  drew  after  it  political  and  social  changes  of  the  high- 
est moment.  Hence  it  presents  a  twofold  aspect.  On 
the  one  hand,  it  is  a  transformation  in  the  Church,  in 
which  are  involved  contests  of  theologians,  modifications 


12  THE  REFORMATION. 

of  creed  and  ritual,  new  systems  of  polity,  an  altered 
type  of  Christian  life.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  a  great 
transaction,  in  which  sovereigns  and  -nations  bear  a  part ; 
the  occasion  of  Avars  and  treaties ;  the  close  of  an  old  and 
the  introduction  of  a  new  period  in  the  history  of  culture 
and  civilization. 

The  era  of  the  Reformation,  if  we  give  to  the  term 
this  comprehensive  meaning,  embraces  the  interval  be- 
tween the  posting  of  Luther's  Theses,  in  1517,  and  the 
conclusion  of  the  Peace  of  Westphalia  in  1648. 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE    RISE     OF     THE     PAPAL    HIERARCHY    AND     ITS     DECLINE 
THROUGH  THE  CENTRALIZATION   OF    NATIONS. 

One  essential  part  of  Protestantism  was  the  abolition 
of  the  authority  of  the  hierarchical  order.  Bossuet  has 
remarked  that  if  it  is  only  abuses  in  the  Church  that 
separate  Protestants  from  Catholics,  these  abuses  can  be 
remedied,  and  thus  the  ground  of  the  existence  of  the 
schism  is  taken  away.1  But  to  say  that  the  Reforma- 
tion began  in  a  protest  against  abuses  of  administration 
is  simply  to  say  that  Protestantism  was  not  full-grown 
at  the  start.  In  its  mature  form,  as  all  the  world  knows, 
the  Reformation  was  a  rejection  of  papal  and  priestly 
authority.  In  studying  the  movement,  this  is  one  of  the 
main  points. to  which  attention  must  be  directed.  In 
inquiring  into  the  causes  of  the  Reformation,  therefore, 
we  shall  first  review  the  rise  and  progress  of  the  hier- 
archical system,  and  show  how  it  had  been  weakened  in 
the  period  immediately  antecedent  to  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury. We  shall  then  contemplate  a  variety  of  facts 
which  betokened  a  religious  revolution  and  contributed 
to  produce  it. 

1  The  extent  of  these  abuses  before  the  Reformation  is  admitted  by  the  highest 
Catholic  authorities.  Bellarmine  -ays:  "  Annis  aliquot,  antequam  Lutherans 
et  Calvinistica  liaeresis  oriretur,  nulla  ferme  erat,  ut  ii  testantur,  qui  etiam 
tunc  virebant,  nulla  (inquam)  prope  erat  in  judiciis  ecclesiasticis  se Veritas,  nulla 
in  moribus  disci  pi  ina,  nulla  in  gaeris  Uteris  eruditio,  nulla  in  rebus  divinis 
rcverentia,  nulla  propemodum  jam  erat  religio."  Opera,  vi.  29G;  or  Gerdesius 
Hist,  l-'.r  my.  renovati,  i.  25.  Pope  Adrian  VT.  confessed  to  the  Diet  of  Nu- 
remberg in  1522  that  the  deepest  corruption  had  infected  the  Holy  See  and 
spread  thence  through  the  lower  ranks  of  the  clergy.  Elavil  aid  us,  Annates,  aim. 
1522,  No.  66;  or  Sleidan,  J.iv.  See,  also,  Bossuet,  Variations  des  ProL,  livr.  i. 
(CEuvres,  v.  01!)}.    The  Letters  of  Erasmus  abound  in  corroborative  testimonies. 


14  RISE   AND   DECLINE   OF   THE   PAPAL   HIERAKCHY. 

The  idea  of  the  authority  of  the  sacerdotal  order  is 
separable  from  the  idea  of  papal  supremacy  within  it. 
Yet,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  many  of  the  causes  that  tended 
to  the  overthrow  of  faith  in  the  latter  doctrine,  operated 
likewise  to  undermine  the  former.  The  keystone  of  the 
arch  coidd  not  be  loosened  without  affecting  the  stability 
of  the  whole  structure.  In  the  present  chapter,  the  rise 
and  decline  of  the  papal  dominion  will  be  the  main  sub- 
ject of  attention  ;  and  in  treating  of  the  second  branch  of 
the  topic,  the  decline  of  the  Papacy,  we  shall  direct  atten- 
tion in  particular  to  the  influence  of  a  cause  which  may 
be  denominated  the  spirit  of  nationalism. 

The  religion  of  the  old  dispensation  is  declared  in  the 
Old  Testament  itself,  by  the  prophets,  to  be  rudimental 
and  introductory  to  a  more  spiritual  system.  This  char- 
acter of  inwardness  belongs  to  the  religion  of  Christ, 
which,  for  this  reason,  is  fitted  to  be  universal.  Worship 
is  set  free  from  legal  restrictions,  and  from  the  external 
and  sensuous  characteristics  of  the  Jewish  ritual.  In  one 
grand  feature,  especially,  is  the  religion  of  the  New  Tes- 
tament distinguished  from  the  preparatory  system  —  the 
absence  of  a  mediatorial  priesthood.  The  disciples  were  to 
form  a  community  of  brethren,  who  should  be  associated 
on  a  footing  of  equality,  all  of  them  being  illuminated 
and  directed,  as  well  as  united,  by  the  one  Spirit.  The 
persevering  efforts  of  the  judaizing  party  to  preserve  the 
distinctive  features  of  the  Jewish  system  and  foist  them 
upon  the  Church,  failed.  The  true,  catholic  interpreta- 
tion of  the  Gospel,  as  giving  liberty  to  the  soul  and  direct 
access  to  God  through  the  one  high  priest  who  super- 
sedes all  other  priestly  mediation  —  that  interpretation 
to  which  all  of  the  Apostles  assented  in  principle,  but  of 
which  Paul  was  so  clear  and  steadfast  an  expounder  —  pre- 
vailed in  the  Christian  societies  that  were  early  scattered 
over  the  Roman  Empire.  Their  organization  was  simple. 
The  idea  of  a  body  in  which,  while  all  the  members  serve 


PRIMITIVE   CHURCH   ORGANIZATION.  15 

each  other,  they  are  still  adapted  to  different  functions, 
for  which  they  are  severally  designated  by  the  ruling 
principle  —  which,  in  the  case  of  the  Church,  is  the  Di- 
vine Spirit  —  lay  at  the  root.  As  was  natural,  all  of  the 
Christians  in  a  town  were  united  in  one  society,  or  ecclesia, 
the  old  Greek  term  for  an  assembly  legally  called  and 
summoned.  In  each  society  there  was  a  board  of  pastors, 
called  indifferently  elders,  presbyters  —  a  name  taken 
from  the  synagogue  —  or  bishops,  overseers,  a  name  given 
by  the  Greeks  to  persons  charged  with  a  guiding  over- 
sight in  civil  administration.  In  the  election  of  them, 
the  body  of  disciples  had  a  controlling  voice,  although,  as 
long  as  the  Apostles  lived,  their  suggestions  or  appoint- 
ments would  naturally  be  accepted.  These  officers  did 
not  give  up,  at  first,  their  secular  occupations  ;  they  were 
not  even,  at  the  outset,  intrusted  as  a  peculiar  function 
with  the  business  of  teaching,  which  was  free  to  all  and 
specially  devolved  on  a  class  of  persons  who  seemed  des- 
ignated by  their  gifts  for  this  work.  The  elders,  with 
the  deacons  whose  business  it  was  to  look  after  the  poor 
and  to  perform  kindred  duties,  were  the  officers,  to  whom 
each  little  community  committed  the  lead  in  the  manage- 
ment of  its  affairs.  The  change  that  took  place,  either 
during  or  soon  after  the  age  of  the  Apostles,  by  which 
precedence  was  given  in  each  board  of  pastors  to  one  of 
their  number  to  whom  the  title  of  bishop  was  exclusively 
appropriated,  did  not  of  itself  involve  any  fundamental 
alteration  in  the  spirit  or  polity  of  the  churches.1     But 

1  The  polity  of  the  Church  in  the  Apostolic  age  is  admirably  described  by 
Rothe,  Die  Anfdnge  d.  Christl.  Kirche  u.  Hirer  Verfassung  (1837),  although 
Rothe's  particular  hypothesis  respecting  the  origin  of  the  Episcopate  has  found 
little,  if  any  favor.  The  Roman  Catholic  and  Anglican  view,  that  the  Episco- 
pate, as  a  distinct  office,  was  ordained  by  the  Apostles  for  the  whole  Church,  is 
maintained  by  Walter,  Kirchenrecht  (13th  ed.,  18G1).  The  counterpart,  on  the 
Protestant  side,  of  Walter's  work  is  that  of  Richter,  Kirchenrecht  (7th  ed.,  1872). 
There  is  an  able  historical  Dissertation  on  the  "Christian  Ministry"  by  Prof. 
Lightfoot,  St.  Paul's  Epistle  to  the  Philippians  (2d  ed.,  1869).  The  more  usual 
view  of  Protestants  is  advocated  by  Neander  and  Gieseler  in  their  Church  histo- 
ries. See,  also,  Jacob,  The  Keel.  Polity  of  the  New  Testament  (1872).  The 
controversial  literature  on  the  subject  is  enough  to  form  a  librarv. 


16  RISE   AND   DECLINE   OF   THE   PAPAL    HIERARCHY. 

as  we  approach  the  close  of  the  second  century  we  find 
marked  charges,  some  of  them  of  a  portentous,  character ; 
such  as  indicate  that  the  process  of  externalizing  the 
Christian  religion  and  the  idea  of  the  Church,  has  fairly 
set  in.  The  enlargement  of  the  jurisdiction  of  bishops 
by  extending  it  over  dependent  churches  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  the  towns,  and  the  multiplying  of  church  offices, 
are  changes  of  less  moment.  But  the  officers  of  the  Church 
are  more  and  more  assuming  the  position  of  a  distinct 
order,  which  is  placed  above  the  laity  and  is  the  ap- 
pointed medium  of  conveying  to  them  grace.  The  con- 
ception of  a  priesthood,  after  the  Old  Testament  system, 
is  attaching  itself  to  the  Christian  ministry.  Along  with 
this  gradual  change  there  is  an  imperceptible  yet  grow- 
ing departure  from  the  fundamental  doctrine  of  salva- 
tion, as  it  had  been  set  forth  by  Paul,  and  an  adoption 
of  a  more  legal  view,  in  which  faith  is  identified  with  doc- 
trinal belief,  and  hence  is  coupled  with  works,  instead  of 
being  their  fruitful  source.  This  doctrinal  change  and 
this  attributing  of  a  priestly  function  and  prerogative  to 
the  clergy,  were  not  in  any  considerable  degree  the  re- 
sult of  efforts  on  the  part  of  Jewish  Christians  and  of 
judaizing  parties,  which  had  been  early  overcome  and 
cast  as  heretical  sects  beyond  the  pale  of  the  Church. 
They  were  rather  the  product  of  tendencies  in  human 
nature,  which  are  liable  to  manifest  themselves  at  anytime, 
and  which  serve  to  account  in  great  part  for  the  tenacious 
adherence  of  the  Jewish  sectaries  to  their  ritual.  But 
these  tendencies  were  materially  aided  by  the  peculiar 
circumstances  in  which  the  early  Church  was  placed,  of 
which  the  abuse  of  the  Pauline  doctrine  by  Gnostic  and 
by  Antinoniian  speculations  was  doubtless  one.  There 
were  causes  which  gave  rise  at  once  to  the  hierarchical 
idea  or  doctrine  and  the  hierarchical  polity.  The  perse- 
cutions to  which  the  Church  was  subject  at  the  hands  of 
the  Roman  government,  and  still  more  the  great  conflict 


GROWTH   OF   A  HIERARCHY.  17 

with  a  swarm  of  heretical  teachers  who  sought  to  amal- 
gamate Christianity  with  various  forms  of  Greek  and 
Oriental  philosophy,  suggested  the  need  of  a  more  com- 
pact organization.  The  polity  of  the  Church  naturally 
took  a  form  corresponding  to  political  models  then  exist- 
ing. Confederated  government  was  something  familiar 
to  the  Greek  mind.  The  Church  in  the  capital  of  a  prov- 
ince, with  its  bishop,  easily  acquired  a  precedence  over  the 
other  churches  and  bishops  in  the  same  district,  and  thus 
the  metropolitan  system  grew  up.  A  higher  grade  of 
eminence  was  accorded  to  the  bishops  and  churches  of 
the  principal  cities,  such  as  Rome,  Alexandria,  and  Ephe- 
sus ;  and  thus  we  have  the  germs  of  a  more  extended 
hierarchical  sway. 

Even  as  early  as  the  latter  part  of  the  second  century, 
the  Church  has  passed  into  the  condition  of  a  visible  or- 
ganized commonwealth.  We  find  Iremeus  uttering  the 
famous  dictum  that  where  the  Church  is  —  meaning  the 
visible  body  with  its  clergy  and  sacraments  —  there  is 
the  Spirit  of  God,  and  where  the  Spirit  of  God  is,  there  is 
the  Church.1  To  be  cut  off  from  the  Church  is  to  be  sep- 
arated from  Christ.  The  Church  is  the  door  of  access  to 
Him.  We  can  also  readily  account  for  the  importance 
that  began  to  be  attached  to  tradition  ;  for  the  defenders 
of  Christianity  against  Gnostical  corruptions  naturally 
fell  back  on  the  historical  evidence  afforded  by  the  pres- 
ence and  testimony  of  the  leading  churches  which  the 
Apostles  themselves  had  planted..  Iremeus  and  Tertul- 
lian  direct  the  inquirer  to  go  to  Corinth,  Ephesus,  Rome, 
to  the  places  where  the  Apostles  had  taught,  and  ascer- 
tain whether  the  novel  speculations  of  the  time  could 
justly  claim  the  sanction  of  the  first  disciples  of  Christ, 
or    had   been    transmitted   from     them.2     It  is  the  pre- 

1  Adv.  Ilceres.,  in.  iii.  §  1.     Irenreus  was  Bishop  of  Lyons  from  177  to  202. 

2  Irenams,  Adv.  Hcer.,  in.  iii.    Tertullian,  De  Prcesci-ij)t.  Hairet.,  c.  xxxvi. 
Tertullian,  a  Presbyter  at  Carthage,  died  220. 

2 


18  RISE   AND   DECLINE    OF    THE    PAPAL   HIERARCHY. 

eminence  of  Rome,  as  the  custodian  of  traditions,  that 
Irena^us  means  to  assert  in  a  noted  passage  in  which  he 
exalts  that  Church.1  But  this  sort  of  preeminence  might 
contribute  to  prepare  the  way  for  another  and  a  far  dif- 
ferent conception,  which  would  connect  itself  with  it. 
The  unity  of  the  Church,  this  great  visible  society  of 
Christians,  was  realized  in  the  unity  of  the  sacerdotal 
body.  It  was  natural  to  seek  and  to  find  a  head  for  this 
body.  And  where  should  it  be  sought  except  at  Rome, 
the  capital  of  the  world,  the  seat  of  the  principal- Church, 
where,  as  it  was  generally  and  perhaps  truly  believed, 
Peter  as  well  as  Paul  had  perished  as  martyrs  ?  After 
Peter  came  to  be  considered  the  chief  of  the  Apostles, 
and  Avhen,  near  the  close  of  the  second  century,  the  idea 
was  suggested  and  became  current  that  Peter  had  been 
bishop  of  the  Roman  Church,  a  strong  foundation  was 
laid  in  the  minds  of  men  for  the  recognition  of  the  pri- 
macy of  that  Church  and  of  its  chief  pastor.2  The  habit 
of  thus  regarding  the  see  of  Rome,  so  far  gains  ground 
that  in  tne  middle  of  the  third  century  we  find  a  Cyprian 
whose  zeal  for  episcopal  independence  would  not  tolerate 
the  subjection  of  one  bishop  to  another,  still  speaking  of 
that  see  as  the  source  of  sacerdotal  unity.3  The  influ- 
ences that  gradually  built  up  the  primacy  of  the  Roman 
bishop,  and  had  a  special  force  of  operation  in  the  Western 
Church,  were  multiform.  Rome  had  a  preeminence  and 
a  grandeur  in  the  estimation  of  men,  such  as  no  modern 
cities,  however  splendid,  have  ever  rivaled.  To  that  cap- 
ital the  nations  had  been  accustomed  to  look  with  awe. 
Something  of  this  reverence  was  easily  transferred  to  the 
Church  which  had  its  seat  in  the  Eternal  City.  The  cus- 
tom of  regarding  the  Roman  Empire  as  a  divinely  consti- 
tuted theatre  for  the  Christian  religion,  which  God  had 

»  Lib.  in.  iii.  2. 

1  The  first  mention  of  Peter  as  Bishop  of  Rome  is  in  the  Clementine,  Homilies, 
which  were  composed  in  the  latter  part  of  the  second  century. 
8  Ep.  to.  ad  Cornel. 


PRECEDENCE  OF  'THE  ROMAN  CHURCH.        19 

moulded  for  this  end  by  a  long  providential  history,  led 
men  to  consider  the  capital  of  the  Empire  the  predestined 
metropolis  of  Christianity.  In  times  of  persecution,  the 
first  intelligence  of  the  gathering  storm  was  often  com- 
municated from  the  Roman  Church,  whose  bishops  were 
likely  to  be  the  earliest  victims.  The  Roman  Church 
was  revered  as  the  only  apostolic  see  in  the  West.  Many 
of  the  churches  of  the  West  were  planted  by  its  agency  ; 
many  received  from  it  pecuniary  aid.  There  were  fewer 
cities  than  in  the  East,  and  hence  fewer  competitors  to  dis- 
pute the  pretensions  of  the  Roman  bishop,  and  less  room 
for  the  development  of  the  metropolitan  system,  which  in 
the  East  operated  to  a  certain  extent  as  a  check  upon 
the  ambition  of  any  single  prelate.  From  the  beginning, 
the  Latin  Church  partook  of  the  practical  spirit  of  the 
race  among  whom  it  was  planted ;  it  kept  on  its  path 
more  steadily,  while  the  East,  swayed  by  the  speculative 
spirit  of  the  Greek,  was  convulsed  by  the  great  contro- 
versies in  theology,  which  mark  especially  the  fourth  and 
fifth  centuries.  Through  all  the  period  of  the  Arian  and 
Nestorian  conflicts,  the  Roman  bishop  stood  sufficiently 
apart  from  the  contending  parties  to  acquire  great  import- 
ance in  their  eyes  and  to  make  his  support  coveted  by 
each  of  them.  He  was  the  powerful  neutral  whom  it  was 
for  the  interest  of  all  factions  to  conciliate.  The  desire  to 
gain  the  strength  which  the  adhesion  of  so  influential  a 
prelate  must  give,  would  induce  partisans  to  resort  to  him 
as  an  umpire,  and  to  exalt  his  prerogative  in  flattering  lan- 
guage, such  as  under  different  circumstances  they  would 
never  have  employed.  At  critical  moments  the  Roman 
bishop  actually  interposed  with  doctrinal  formulas  which 
met  with  general  acceptance  ;  the  most  memorable  in- 
stance being  that  of  the  (Ecumenical  Council  of  Chalce- 
don  (451),  when  the  statement  of  the  creed  respecting  the 
person  of  Christ  was  substantially  drawn  from  the  letter 
of  Leo  I.     But  how  far  the  Eastern  prelates  were  from 


20  RISE   AND   DECLINE   OF   THE   PAPAL   HIERARCHY. 

acknowledging  the  pretensions  of  the  Roman  bishop 
was  indicated  at  this  very  council,  where  a  titular  and 
honorary  precedence  was  granted  him,  at  the  same  time 
that  equality  in  other  respects  was  claimed  for  the 
Bishop  of  Constantinople,  on  account  of  his  being  bishop 
of  "  New  Rome."  Leo  was  cut  to  the  quick  by  this  pro- 
ceeding of  the  council,  which  placed  his  authority  on  so 
precarious  a  foundation  by  making  it  dependent  solely  on 
the  political  importance  of  the  cit}>-  where  it  was  exerted. 
He  repels  the  declaration  of  the  council  with  great 
warmth,  and  asserts  that  the  authority  of  spiritual  Rome 
is  founded  on  the  fact  that  it  is  the  see  of  Peter.  But 
Leo  does  not  renounce  the  advantages  to  be  derived  from 
the  commanding  political  position  of  Rome,  but  skillfully 
interweaves  this  with  the  more  vital  consideration  just 
named.  He  claims  that  the  Roman  Empire  was  built  up 
with  reference,  to  Christianity,  and  that  Rome,  for  this 
reason,  was  chosen  for  the  bishopric  of  the  chief  of  the 
Apostles.  This  idea  as  to  the  design  of  the  Roman 
Empire  passed  down  to  later  times.  It  is  implied  in  the 
lines  of  Dante,  where,  speaking  of  Rome  and  the  Empire, 
he  says : — 

"  Fur  stabiliti  per  lo  loco  santo 
IP  siedeil  successor  del  maggior  Piero."  1 

If  we  watch  the  course  of  history  for  several  centuries 
after  the  second,  we  observe  that  the  attempts  of  the 
Roman  bishops  to  exercise  judicial  or  legislative  functions 
in  relation  to  the  rest  of  the  Church,  now  succeed  and 
again  are  repulsed  ;  but  on  the  whole,  under  all  these 
fluctuations,  their  power  is  increasing. 

The  accession  of  Constantine  (311)  found  the  Church 
so  firmly  organized  under  its  hierarchy  that  it  could  not 
be  absolutely  merged  in  the  state,  as  might  have  been 
the  result  had  its  constitution  been  different.     But  undei 

1  "Were  established  as  the  holy  place,  wherein 
Sits  the  successor  of  the  greatest  Peter." 

Inferno,  ii.  23-24. 


AUGMENTED   POWER   OF    ROMAN   BISHOPS.  21 

hirn  and  his  successors,  the  supremacy  of  the  state  and 
a  large  measure  of  control  over  ecclesiastical  affairs  were 
maintained  by  the  emperors.  General  councils,  for  ex- 
ample, were  convoked  by  them  and  presided  over  by 
their  representatives,  and  conciliar  decrees  published  as 
laws  of  the  Empire.  The  Roman  bishops  felt  it  to  be  an 
honor  to  be  judged  only  by  the  emperor.1  In  the 
closing  period  of  imperial  history,  the  emperors  favored 
the  ecclesiastical  primacy  of  the  Roman  see,  as  a  bond 
of  unity  in  the  Empire.  Political  disorders  tended  to 
elevate  the  position  of  the  Roman  bishop,  especially 
when  he  was  a  person  of  remarkable  talents  and  energy. 
In  such  a  case  the  office  took  on  new  prerogatives.  Leo 
the  Great  (440-461),  the  first,  perhaps,  who  is  entitled 
to  be  stylei  Pope,  with  the  more  modern  associations  of 
the  title,  proved, himself  a  pillar  of  strength  in  the  midst 
of  tumult  and  anarchy.  His  conspicuous  services,  as  in 
shielding  Rome  from  the  barbarians  and  protecting  its 
inhabitants,  facilitated  the  exercise  of  a  spiritual  jurisdic- 
tion that  stretched  not  only  over  Italy,  but  as  far  as 
Gaul  and  Africa.  To  him  was  given  by  Valentinian  III. 
(445)  an  imperial  declaration  which  made  him  supreme 
over  the  Western  Church. 

The  fall  of  the  Western  Empire  (476)  in  one  impor- 
tant particular  was  of  signal  advantage  to  the  popes :  it 
liberated  them  from  subjection  to  the  civil  power.  The 
fate  of  the  Eastern  Church  and  of  the  see  of  Constantino- 
ple might  have  been  the  fate  of  the  Western  Church  and 
of  Rome,  had  its  political  situation  been  equally  unpro- 
pitious.  The  slavish  condition  to  which  the  Roman 
bishops  were  reduced  in  the  brief  period  of  the  full 
Greek  rule  in  Italy,  after  the  conquest  of  Justinian 
(539-568),  proves  how  closely  the  vigor  and  growth  of 
the  papal  institution  were  dependent  on  favoring  political 
circumstances.     From   this  ignoble  servitude  it  was  lib- 

1  Gieseler,  n.  i.  3,  §  92. 


22  RISE   AND   DECLINE   ON  THE  PAPAL   HIERARCHY. 

erated  by  the  Lombard  invasion,  which  broke  down  the 
Greek  power  in  the  peninsula. 

But  the  direct  consequences  of  the  fall  of  the  Roman 
dominion  in  the  West  had  been  disastrous  to  the  Church 
and  to  the  Papacy.1  Christian  Britain  had  been  con- 
quered by  the  heathen  Saxons  from  the  continent.  Ari- 
anism  had  spread  far  and  wide  among  the  Germanic 
tribes.  The  Greek  Church,  which  became  more  and  more 
distinct  from  the  Latin,  in  language,  creed,  and  ritual, 
attached  itself  with  increasing  loyalty  to  the  Patriarch 
of  Constantinople.  As  Arianism  was,  step  by  step,  dis- 
placed by  orthodoxy  through  the  conquests  of  the  Franks, 
the  authority  of  the  Papacy  was  not  proportionately  ad- 
vanced. Even  the  power  of  metropolitans  in  the  differ- 
ent countries  sank,  and  the  government  of  the  Church 
rested  in  the  hands  of  the  kings  and  of  the  aristocracy  of 
nobles  and  bishops.  The  bishops  under  the  Merovingian 
kings  amassed  wealth,  but  led  unholy  lives,  with  little 
concern  for  the  interests  of  religion.  The  disorder  in  the 
Frank  Church  reached  its  height  under  Charles  Martel. 
At  this  time  the  heretical  Lombards  had  founded  their 
kingdom  in  the  heart  of  Italy;  and  the  Arabs,  having 
carried  their  dominion  over  Africa  and  Spain,  were  ad- 
vancing apparently  to  the  conquest  of  Europe. 

The  fortunate  alliance  of  the  Papacy  with  the  Franks 
was  the  event  on  which  its  whole  mediaeval  history  turned. 
They  counted  at  their  conversion,  in  the  fifth  century,  only 
about  five  thousand  warriors.  They  gained  the  ascen- 
dency over  the  Burgundians  and  Goths,  and  thus  secured 
the  victory  of  the  Catholic  faith  over  the  Arian  type  of 
Christianity.  This  alone  was  an  event  of  signal  moment, 
in  its  ultimate  bearing  on  the  papal  dominion.  Then 
under  Charles  Martel,  at  Poitiers  (732),  they  defeated  the 
Moslems  who,  in  their  victorious  progress,  were  encircling 
Christendom  and  threatening  not  only  to  crush  the  Pa- 

1  Giesebrecht,  Die  Deutsche  Kaiserzeit,  i.  92. 


THE  PAPACY  AND  THE  FRANKS.  23 

pacy  but  even  to  extirpate  Christianity  itself.  Under  the 
shield  of  the  Franks,  Boniface  went  forth  to  accomplish 
the  conversion  of  the  Germans;  himself  an  Anglo-Saxon, 
of  the  nation  which  had  been  won  from  heathenism  by 
missionaries  sent  directly  from  that  pontiff  whose  reign 
separates  the  ancient  or  classical  from  the  mediaeval  era 
of  the  Church,  Gregory  the  Great.  The  usurpation  of 
Pepin,  the  founder  of  the  Carlovingian  line,  was  hallowed 
in  the  eyes  of  his  subjects  by  the  sanction  obtained  from 
Pope  Zacharias  (750).  The  political  renovation  of  the 
Prankish  monarchy  was  attended  by  an  extension  of  the  in- 
fluence of  the  papal  see.  The  Frankish  Church  was  brought 
into  closer  connection  with  Rome.  The  primacy  of  Peter 
was  universally  recognized  ;  it  even  acquired,  through  the 
labors  of  Boniface,  a  far  higher  significance  than  it  had 
ever  before  possessed.1  After  the  Lombards  had  wrested 
from  the  Greeks  their  provinces  in  Italy,  and  were 
threatening  Rome,  at  a  time,  too,  when,  by  the  contro- 
versy about  the  worship  of  images,  the  Western  Church 
was  separated  from  the  East  and  the  Roman  bishop  was 
left  to  protect  himself,  he  turned  to  the  Franks  for  assist- 
ance against  his  heretical  and  aggressive  neighbors.  The 
deliverance  achieved  first  by  Pepin  (754-55),  and  then  by 
Charlemagne,  resulted  in  the  coronation  of  the  lattuj  n 
Christmas  day,  800,  in  the  Basilica  of  St.  Peter  by  the 
hands  of  the  Pope.  Thus  Charles  became  in  form  what  he 
had  made  himself  in  fact,  the  Emperor  of  the  West.  The 
idea  of  the  perpetuity  of  the  Roman  Empire  was  never 
lost  from  the  minds  of  men.  In  the  coronation  of  Charles, 
the  Pope  virtually  proceeded  in  the  character  of  a  represen- 
tative of  the  Roman  people,  and  his  act  signified  the  re- 
vival of  the  Roman  Empire.  Charlemagne,  while  he 
recognized  the  Pope  as  the  spiritual  head  of  the  Church, 
demeaned  himself  as  a  master  in  reference  to  him,  as  in 
relation  to  his  own  bishops.     But  while  the  foundatioii 

1  Giesebrccht,  i.  <J7. 


24  RISE   AND   DECLINE   OF  THE  PAPAL   HIERARCHY. 

was  laid  for  the  papal  kingdom  in  Italy  by  the  grants  of 
Pepin  and  Charlemagne,  a  plausible  ground  was  also  fur- 
nished for  the  subsequent  claim  that  the  Pope,  by  his 
own  authority,  had  transferred  the  Empire  from  the  East 
to  the  West,  and  selected  the  individual  to  fill  the 
throne.1  In  later  times  the  coronation  of  Charles  lent 
color  to  the  pretended  right  of  the  pontiffs  to  exert  a 
governing  influence  in  civil  not  less  than  in  ecclesiastical 
affairs. 

As  the  divisions  and  conflicts  of  Charlemagne's  em- 
pire after  his  death  tended  to  exalt  the  bishops  who 
were  called  in  to  act  as  umpires  among  rival  aspirants  or 
courted  for  the  religious  sanction  which  they  could  give 
to  successful  ambition,  so  did  this  era  of  disorder  tend  to 
magnify  the  power  of  the  recognized  head  of  the  whole 
episcopate.  In  this  period  appeared  the  False  or  Pseudo- 
Isidorian  Decretals,  which  formulized,  to  be  sure,  ten- 
dencies already  rife,  but  still  imparted  to  those  tendencies 
an  authoritative  basis  and  an  augmented  strength.  The 
False  Decretals  brought  forward  principles  of  ecclesiastical 
law  which  made  the  Church  independent  of  the  State 
and  elevated  the  Roman  See  to  a  position  unknown  to 
preceding  ages.  The  immunity  and  high  prerogatives 
of  bishops,  the  exaltation  of  primates,  as  the  direct  instru- 
ments of  the  popes,  above  metropolitans  who  were  closely 
dependent  on  the  secular  rulers,  and  the  ascription  of  the 
highest  legislative  and  judicial  functions  to  the  Roman 
Pontiff,  were  among  the  leading  features  of  this  spurious 
collection,  which  found  its  way  into  the  codes  of  canon 
law  and  radically  modified  the  ancient  ecclesiastical  sys- 
tem.2 There  was  only  needed  a  pope  of  sufficient  talents 
and  energy  to  give  practical  effect  to  these  new  princi- 

i  For  the  history  of  the  papal  kingdom  in  Italy,  see  the  work  of  Sugenheim, 
Geschichte  der  Entstehungu.  Ausbildung  des  Kirckenstaates  (Leipzig,  1854); 
also,  a  review  of  this  work  in  the  New  Englander,  vol.  xxvi.   (.Jan.  1S*J7 ). 

'2  On  the  date  of  the  Pseudo-Isid.  Decretals,  see  Nicdner,  KirrhengeschicJite, 
p.  -'506.    Thev  first  appeared  about  the  middle  of  the  ninth  century. 


THE  PAPACY  AND  THE  EMPIRE.  25 

pies;  and  such  a  person  appeared  in  Nicholas  I.  (858- 
867).  Availing  himself  of  a  favorable  juncture,  lie  exer- 
cised the  discipline  of  the  Church  upon  Lothair  II.,  the 
Kins:  of  Lorraine,  whom  he  forced  to  submit  to  the 
papal  judgment  in  a  matrimonial  cause,  while  he  de- 
posed the  archbishops  who  had  endeavored  to  baffle  his 
purpose.  At  the  same  time,  Nicholas  humbled  Hincmar, 
the  powerful  Archbishop  of  Rheims,  who  had  disregarded 
the  appeal  which  one  of  his  bishops,  Rothad  of  Soissons, 
had  made  to  Rome.  Such  exertions  of  power,  for  which 
the  False  Decretals  furnished  a  warrant,  seem  to  antici- 
pate the  Hildebrandian  age. 

Anxious  to  deliver  themselves  from  the  control  which 
Charlemagne  had  established  over  them,  the  popes  even 
fomented  the  discord  among  the  Frankish  princes  ;  but  the 
anarchical  condition  into  which  the  Empire  ultimately  fell, 
left  the  Papacy,  for  a  century  and  a  half,  the  prey  of 
Italian  factions,  by  the  agency  of  which  the  papal  office 
was  reduced  to  a  lower  point  of  moral  degradation  than 
it  ever  reached  before  or  since.1  This  era  —  during  a  con- 
siderable portion  of  which  harlots  disposed  of  the  papal 
office,  and  their  paramours  wore  the  tiara  —  was  inter- 
rupted by  the  intervention  of  the  German  sovereigns 
Otho  I.  and  Otho  III.  ;  with  the  first  of  whom  the  Holy 
Roman  Empire,  in  the  sense  in  which  the  name  is  used 
in  subsequent  ages,  the  secular  counterpart  of  the  Pa- 
pacy, takes  its  origin.2  The  pontiff's  preferred  the  sway 
of  the  emperors  to  that  of  the  lawless  Italian  barons.3 
This  dark  period  was  terminated  by  Henry  III.,  who 
appeared  in  Italy  at  the  head  of  an  army,  and,  in  1046, 
at  the  Synod  of  Sutri,  which  he  had  convoked,  dethroned 

1  The  degradation  of  the  Papacy  in  this  period  is  depicted  in  the  darkest 
colors  by  the  Roman  Catholic  annalist,  Paronius.  Annates,  x.  050  seq.  He  even 
infers  a  special  divine  preservation  of  the  Church  and  of  the  Holy  See. 

2  Bryce,  Holy  Roman  Empire,  p.  80.  This  admirable  work  deserves  to  be 
read  by  every  student  of  history. 

8  Von  Raumer,  Geschichte  Jer  Tlohenstaufen,  i.  20. 


26  RISE   AND   DECLINE   OF   THE   PAPAL   HIERARCHY. 

three  rival  popes,  and  raised  to  the  vacant  office  one  of 
his  own  bishops. 

The  imperial  office  had  passed  into  the  hands  of  the 
German  kings,  and  they,  like  their  Carlovingian  prede- 
cessors, rescued  the  Papacy  from  destruction.  We  have 
reached  the  period  when  Hildebrand  (1073-1085)  ap- 
peared Avith  his  vast  reforming  plan.  While  he  aimed  at 
a  thorough  reformation  of  morals  and  a  restoration  of 
ecclesiastical  order  and  discipline,  he  coupled  with  this 
laudable  project  the  fixed  design  to  subordinate  the  State 
to  the  Church,  and  to  subject  the  Church  to  the  absolute 
authority  of  the  Pope.1  The  prosecution  of  this  enter- 
prise, in  which  good  and  evil  were  almost  inseparably 
blended,  by  Hildebrand  himself,  and  by  a  series  of  able 
and  aspiring  pontiffs  who  trod  in  his  footsteps,  occasioned 
the  conflict  between  the  Papacy  and  the  Empire. 

This  conflict,  with  which  mediaeval  history  for  several 
centuries  resounds,  was  an  inevitable  consequence  of  the 
feudal  system.  The  dependence  of  ecclesiastical  princes 
upon  their  sovereign,  and  hence  his  right  to  invest  them 
with  the  badges  of  their  office,  must  be  maintained  ;  other- 
wise the  kingdom  would  be  divided  against  itself.  On 
the  contrary,  such  a  relation  on  the  part  of  bishops,  in- 
dependently of  simony  and  kindred  corruptions  which  were 
connected  with  the  control  of  secular  rulers  over  the  ap- 
pointment of  ecclesiastics,  was  naturally  deemed  fatal  to 
the  unity  of  the  sacerdotal  body.  To  fix  the  bounds  of 
authority  between  the  two  powers,  the  Papacy  and  the 
Empire,  to  whom  the  government  of  the  world  was  sup- 
posed to  be  committed  by  the  ordinance  of  heaven,  was 
impracticable  without  a  contest.  That  the  Emperor  was 
commissioned  to  preside  over  the  temporal  affairs  of  men, 
while  the  Pope  was  to  guide  and  govern  them  in  things 
spiritual,  was  too  vague  a  criterion  for  defining  the  limits 

1  Gregory's  system  is  well  described  by  Voigt,  Hildebrand  als  Papst  Grego- 
rius  der  Siebente,  u.  sein  Zeitnlter  (Weimar,  1846),  p.  171  scq. 


STRUGGLE   WITH    THE   EMPIRE.  27 

of  jurisdiction.  The  coordination,  the  equilibrium  of  the 
two  powers,  was  a  relation  with  which,  on  the  supposition 
that  it  were  practicable,  neither  party  would  be  content. 
It  was  a  struggle  on  both  sides  for  universal  monarchy. 
Consequently  our  sympathies  can  be  given  without  re- 
serve to  neither  party,  or  rather  they  must  be  given  to 
each  so  far  as  each  labored  to  curb  the  encroachments  and 
prevent  the  undue  predominance  of  the  other.  Neither 
aimed  at  the  destruction,  but  each  at  the  subjugation,  of 
the  other.  It  was  a  battle  where  society  would  have 
equally  suffered  from  the  complete  and  permanent  triumph 
of  either  contestant. 

The  Papacy  had  great  advantages  for  prosecuting  the 
warfare  against  the  Empire,  even  apart  from  the  force  of 
the  religious  sentiments  which  the  head  of  the  Church 
could  more  easily  invoke  in  his  favor.  There  was  an  in- 
congruity between  the  station  attributed  to  the  Emperor 
and  the  fact  that  his  actual  dominion  was  far  from  being 
coextensive  with  Christendom.  He  could  assert  nothing 
more  than  a  shadowy,  theoretical  supremacy  over  the 
other  kingdoms  of  Western  Europe.  The  Pope,  on  the 
contrary,  was  everywhere  the  acknowledged  head  of  Latin 
Christianity.  If  a  jealousy  for  their  own  rights  might 
tempt  other  kings  to  make  common  capse  with  the  Em- 
peror against  papal  aggressions,  this  feeling  would  be 
neutralized  by  the  danger  to  other  sovereigns  that  would 
follow  from  the  triumph  and  undisputed  exaltation  of  the 
Empire.  Few  kings  were  possessed  of  the  magnanimity 
of  St.  Louis  of  France,  who  exerted  all  the  powers  of 
peaceful  remonstrance  to  protect  Frederic  II.  from  the 
implacable  vindictiveness  of  Gregory  IX.  Moreover,  the 
relation  of  the  German  "emperors  to  the  hierarchy  of 
their  kingdom  was  quite  different  from  that  held  by 
Charlemagne,  who  acted  the  part  of  an  ecclesiastical  as 
well  as  a  civil  ruler.  An  indispensable  and  effective  sup- 
port the  popes  found  in  the  German  princes  themselves, 


28  RISE   AND   DECLINE   OF   THE  PAPAL  HIERARCHY. 

the  great  vassals  of  the  Empire,  and  in  their  disposition 
to  put  checks  upon  the  power  of  their  sovereigns.  The 
same  cause  which  impeded  the  emperors  in  acting  upon 
Italy,  aided  the  popes  in  acting  upon  Germany.  The 
strength  of  the  popes  lay  in  the  intestine  divisions  which 
they  could  create  there.  The  attempt  of  Gregory  VII. 
to  dethrone  Henry  IV.  would  have  been  utterly  hopeless 
but  for  the  disaffection  which  the  arbitrary  conduct  of 
Henry  had  provoked  among  his  own  subjects.  On  the 
contrary,  the  municipal  spirit  of  liberty  in  the  Italian 
cities,  and  their  determined  struggle  for  independence, 
provided  the  popes  with  potent  allies  against  the  imperial 
authority.  The  pontiffs  were  able  to  present  themselves 
in  the  attractive  light  of  champions  of  popular  freedom 
in  its  battle  with  despotism.  The  crusades  gave  the 
popes  the  opportunity  to  come  forward  as  the  leaders  of 
Christendom,  and  turn  to  their  own  account  the  religious 
enthusiasm  which  spread  as  a  fire  over  Europe.  The  im- 
mediate influence  of  this  great  movement  was  seen  in  the 
augmented  power  of  the  pontiffs,  and  the  diminished 
strength  of  the  imperial  cause.1 

The  Papacy  was  victorious  in  the  protracted  struggle 
with  the  Empire.  The  humiliation  of  Henry  IV.,  whom 
Hildebrand  kepH  waiting  for  three  winter  days,  in  the 
garb  of  a  penitent,  in  the  yard  of  the  castle  at  Canossa, 
whatever  might  be  the  disgrace  which  it  inflicted  upon 
the  imperial  cause,  was  but  the  politic  act  of  a  passionate 
young  ruler,  who  saw  no  other  way  of  regaining  the  alle- 
giance of  his  subjects  (1077).  When  the  lifting  of  the 
excommunication  was  found  not  to  include  the  full  resto- 
ration of  his  rights  as  a  sovereign,  he  took  up  arms  with 
an  energy  and  success  that  showed  how  little  his  spirit 
was  broken  by  the  indignities  to  which  he  had  submitted. 
The  Worms  Concordat  which  Calixtus  II.  concluded  with 
Henry  V.  in  1122,  and  which  provided  both  for  a  secular 

1  See  Gieseler,  in.  iii.  1,§  48. 


HEIGHT    OF   PAPAL   POWER.  29 

and  a  spiritual  investiture,  was  a  marked,  though  not  a 
fully  decisive,  triumph  of  the  Papacy.  It  was  a  great 
step  towards  complete  emancipation  from  imperial  sway.1 
But  the  acknowledgment  which  Frederic  Barbarossa  made 
of  his  sin  and  error  to  Alexander  III.  at  Venice,  in  1177, 
after  a  contest  for  imperial  prerogatives  which  that  mon- 
arch had  kept  up  for  nearly  a  generation,  was  an  impres- 
sive indication  of  the  side  on  which  the  victory  was  to 
rest.  The  triumph  of  the  Papacy  appeared  complete 
when  Gregory  X.  (1271-1276)  directed  the  electoral 
princes  to  choose  an  emperor  within  a  given  interval, 
and  threatened,  in  case  they  refused  to  comply  with  the 
mandate,  to  appoint,  in  conjunction  with  his  cardinals, 
an  emperor  for  them  ;  and  when  Rudolph  of  Hapsburg, 
whom  they  proceeded  to  choose,  acknowledged  in  the 
most  unreserved  and  submissive  manner  the  Pope's  su- 
premacy. 

It  was  during  the  progress  of  the  struggle  with  the 
Empire,  that  the  papal  power  may  be  said  to  have  cul- 
minated. In  the  eighteen  years  (1198-1216)  in  which 
Innocent  III.  reigned,  the  papal  institution  shone  forth 
in  full  splendor.2  The  enforcement  of  celibacy  had 
placed  the  entire  body  of  the  clergy  in  a  closer  relation  to 
the  sovereign  pontiff.  The  Vicar  of  Peter  had  become 
the  Vicar  of  God  and  of  Christ.  The  idea  of  a  theocracy 
on  earth,  in  which  the  Pope  should  rule  in  this  character, 
fully  possessed  the  mind  of  Innocent,  who  united  to  the 
courage,  pertinacity,  and  lofty  conceptions  of  Gregory 
VII.,  a  broader  range  of  statesmanlike  capacity.  In  his 
view  the  two  swords  of  temporal  and  ecclesiastical  power 
had  botli  been  given  to  Peter  and  to  his  successors,  so 
that  the  earthly  sovereign  derived  his  prerogative  from 
the  head  of  the  Church.  The  king  was  to  the  Pope  as 
the  moon   to  the  sun  —  a  lower  luminary  shining  with 

1  Giesebreeht,  i.  917. 

2  Hurter,  Geschichte  Papst  Innocent  d.  Dritten,  3  vols.  (1841). 


30  RISE   AND   DECLINE   OF   THE   PAPAL   HIERARCHY. 

borrowed  light.  Acting  on  this  theory,  he  assumed  the 
post  of  arbiter  in  the  contentions  of  nations,  and  claimed 
the  right  to  dethrone  kings  at  his  pleasure.  Thus  he 
interposed  to  decide  the  disputed  imperial  election  in  Ger- 
many ;  and  when  Otho  IV.,  the  emperor  whom  he  had 
placed  in  power,  proved  false  to  his  pledges  respecting  the 
papal  see,  he  excommunicated  and  deposed  him,  and 
brought  forward  Frederic  II.  in  his  stead.  In  his  conflict 
with  John,  King  of  England,  Innocent  laid  his  kingdom 
under  an  interdict,  excommunicated  him,  and  finally  gave 
his  dominions  to  the  sovereign  of  France  ;  and  John, 
after  the  most  abject  humiliation,  received  them  back  in 
fee  from  the  Pope.  In  the  Church  he  assumed  the  char- 
acter of  universal  bishop,  under  the  theory  that  all  epis- 
copal power  was  originally  deposited  in  Peter  and  his 
successors,  and  communicated  through  this  source  to 
bishops,  who  were  thus  only  the  vicars  of  the  Pope,  and 
might  be  deposed  at  will.  To  him  belonged  all  legis- 
lative authority,  councils  having  merely  a  deliberative 
power,  while  the  right  to  convoke  them  and  to  ratify  or 
annul  their  proceedings  belonged  exclusively  to  him.  He 
alone  was  not  bound  by  the  laws,  and  might  dispense 
with  them  in  the  case  of  others.  Even  the  doctrine  of 
papal  infallibility  began  to  spread,  and  seems  implied,  if 
not  explicitly  avowed,  in  the  teaching  of  the  most  eminent 
theologian  of  the  age,  Thomas  Aquinas.  The  ecclesias- 
tical revolution  by  which  the  powers  that  of  old  had  been 
distributed  through  the  Church  were  now  absorbed  and 
concentrated  in  the  Pope,  was  analogous  to  the  political 
change  in  which  the  feudal  system  gradually  gave  place 
to  monarchy.  The  right  to  confirm  the  appointment  of 
all  bishops,  the  right  even  to  nominate  bishops  and  to 
dispose  of  all  benefices,  the  exclusive  right  of  absolution, 
canonization,  and  dispensation,  the  right  to  tax  the 
churches  —  such  were  some  of  the  enormous  preroga- 
tives, for  the  enforcement  of  which  papal  legates,  clothed 


DEVELOPMENT   OF  THE   LAY  SPIRIT.  31 

with  ample  powers,  were  sent  into  all  the  countries  of 
Europe,  to  override  the  authority  of  bishops  and  of  local 
ecclesiastical  tribunals.  The  establishment  of  the  famous 
mendicant  orders  of  St.  Francis  and  St.  Dominic  raised 
up  a  swarm  of  itinerant  preachers  who  were  closely 
attached  to  the  Pope,  and  ready  to  defend  papal  pre- 
rogatives and  papal  extortions  against  whatever  opposi- 
tion might  arise  from  the  secular  clergy.  Gaining  a  foot- 
hold in  the  universities,  they  defined  and  defended  in 
lectures  and  scholastic  systems  that  conception  of  the  pa- 
pal institution  in  which  all  these  usurpations  and  abuses 
were  contained. 

But  at  the  same  time  that  the  Papacy  was  achieving 
its  victory  over  the  Empire,  a  power  was  at  work  in  the 
bosom  of  society,  which  was  destined  to  render  that  vic- 
tory a  barren  one,  and  to  wrest  the  sceptre  from  the  hand 
of  the  conqueror.  This  power  may  be  described  as 
nationalism,  or  the  tendency  to  centralization,  which  in- 
volved an  expansion  of  intelligence  and  an  end  of  the 
exclusive  domination  of  religious  and  ecclesiastical  in- 
terests.1 The  secularizing  and  centralizing  tendency, 
a  necessary  step  in  the  progress  of  civilization,  was  a 
force  adverse  to  the  papal  dominion.  The  enfranchise- 
ment of  the  towns,  which  dates  from  the  eleventh  cen- 
tury, and  the  growth  of  their  power ;  the  rise  of  com- 
merce ;  the  crusades,  which  in  various  ways  lent  a  power- 
ful impulse  to  the  new  crystallization  of  European 
society;  the  conception  of  monarchy  in  its  European 
form,  which  entered  the  minds  of  men  as  early  as  the 
twelfth  century  —  these  are  some  of  the  principal  signs  of 
the  advent  of  a  new  order  of  things.     Before  the  end  of 

1  "The  gradual  but  slow  reaction  of  the  national  feeling  (des  staatlichen 
Geistes)  against  ecclesiastical  government  in  Europe  (europiiische  kirchenrccht), 
is,  in  general,  the  most  weighty  element  in  the  history  of  the  Middle  Age;  it 
appears  in  every  period  under  different  forms  and  names,  particularly  in  the 
Struggle  about  investitures  and  the  conflict  of  the  Hohenstaufen,  is  continued  in 
the  Reformation,  in  the  French  Revolution,  and  is  still  visible  in  the  most  re- 
cent Concordats  and  in  the  antagonisms  of  our  own  time."  —  Gregorovius,  Ge- 
SGluchtt  dtr  Stadt  Rom  im  Mittelalter^  v.  561. 


32  RISE   AND   DECLINE   OF   THE  PAPAL    HIERARCHY. 

the  thirteenth  century,  the  last  Syrian  town  in  the  hands 
of  the  Christians  was  yielded  to  the  Saracens,  and  the 
peculiar  enthusiasm  which  had  driven  multitudes  by  an 
irresistible  force  to  the  conquest  of  the  holy  places  had 
vanished.  The  struggle  of  the  Papacy  with  the  Empire 
had  been  really  itself  a  contest  between  the  ecclesiastical 
and  the  lay  elements  of  society.  The  triumph  of  the  Pa- 
pacy had  been  owing  to  the  peculiar  constitution  and  in- 
trinsic weakness  of  the  German  monarchy.  It  had  been 
effected  by  the  aid  of  the  German  princes ;  but  they,  in 
their  turn,  were  found  ready  to  resist  papal  encroach- 
ments. From  the  time  of  the  barbarian  invasions, 
Europe  had  formed,  so  to  speak,  one  family,  united  by 
the  bond  of  religion,  under  the  tutelage  of  the  Papacy. 
All  other  influences  tended  to  division  and  isolation. 
The  empire  of  Charlemagne  formed  but  a  temporary 
breakwater  in  opposition  to  these  tendencies.  The  Ger- 
man spirit  of  independence  was  unfavorable  to  political 
unity.  The  feudal  system  was  an  atomic  condition  of 
political  society.  In  this  state  of  things,  the  Church, 
through  its  hierarchical  organization  under  one  chief,  did 
a  beneficent  work  for  civilization  by  fusing  the  peoples, 
as  far  as  its  influence  went,  into  a  single  community,  and 
subjecting  them  to  a  uniform  training.  The  mediaeval 
Papacy,  whatever  evils  may  have  been  connected  with  it, 
saved  Europe  from  anarchy  and  lawlessness.  "  Provi- 
dence might  have  otherwise  ordained,  but  it  is  impossible 
for  man  to  imagine  by  what  other  organizing  or  consoli- 
dating force,  the  commonwealth  of  the  Western  nations 
could  have  grown  up  to  a  discordant,  indeed,  and  con- 
flicting league,  but  still  to  a  league,  with  that  unity  and 
conformity  of  manners,  usages,  laws,  religion,  which  have 
made  their  rivalries,  oppugnancies,  and  even  their  long, 
ceaseless  wars,  on  the  whole  to  issue  in  the  noblest, 
highest,  most  intellectual  form  of  civilization  known  to 
man.1 "     But  the  time  must  come  for  the  diversifying  of 

1  Milman,  History  of  Latin  Christianity,  ii.  43.     See  also  iii.  360. 


THE  VERNACULAR  LITERATURE.  33 

this  unity,  for  the  development  of  the  nations  in  their 
separate  individuality.  This  was  a  change  equally  indis- 
pensable. 

The  development  of  the  national  languages  which  fol- 
lows the  chaotic  period  of  the  ninth  and  tenth  centuries, 
is  an  interesting  sign  of  that  new  stage  in  the  advance- 
ment of  civilization,  upon  which  Europe  was  preparing  to 
enter.  It  is  worthy  of  notice  that  the  earliest  vernacular 
literature  in  Italy,  Germany,  France,  and  England  in- 
volved to  so  great  an  extent  satires  and  invectives  against 
ecclesiastics.  Many  of  the  writers  in  the  living  tongues 
were  laymen.  A  class  of  lay  readers  sprang  up,  so  that 
it  was  no  longer  the  case  that  "  cleric  "  was  a  synonym  for 
one  who  is  able  to  read  and  write.  "  The  greater  part 
of  literature  in  the  Middle  Ages,"  says  Hallam,  "  at  least 
from  the  twelfth  century,  may  be  considered  as  artillery 
leveled  against  the  clergy." l  In  Spain,  the  contest  with 
the  Moors  infused  into  the  earliest  literary  productions 
the  mingled  sentiments  of  loyalty  and  religion.2  But  in 
Germany  the  minnesingers  abound  in  hostile  allusions  to 
the  wealth  and  tyranny  of  ecclesiastics.  Walter  von  der 
Vogelweide,  the  greatest  of  the  lyric  poets  of  his  time, 
a  warm  champion  of  the  imperial  side  against  the  popes, 
denounces  freely  the  riches  and  usurpations  of  the 
Church.3  It  is  true  that  the  brute  epic,  of  which  Rey- 
nard the  Fox  may  be  considered  the  blossom,  which 
figures  largely  in  the  early  literature  of  Germany  and 
the  neighboring  countries,  was  not  didactic  or  satirical 
in  its  design.4  But  it  was  later  converted  into  this  use 
and  turned  into  a  vehicle  for  chastising  the  faults  of 
priests  and  monks.5     The  Provencal  bards  were  bold  and 

1  Literature  of  Europe,  i.  150. 

2  Ticknor,  History  of  Spanish  Literature,  i.  103. 

3  Kurtz,   Geschichte    der    deutschen  Literatur,  i.  48    seq.,  where    passages 
are  given. 

4  Vi hilar,  Gsch.  d.  deutsch.  Lit.,  p.  296  seq. 

6  See  Gervinus,  Gsch.  d.  deutschen  Lit.,  i.  141. 
3 


34  KISE  AND  DECLINE   OF   THE  PAPAL  ETERAKCHY. 

unsparing  in  their  treatment  of  the  hierarchy  until  they 
were  silenced  by  the  Albigensian  crusade. ,  In  Italy, 
Dante  and  Petrarch  signalized  the  beginning  of  a 
national  literature  by  their  denunciation  of  the  vices  and 
usurpations  of  the  Papacy ;  while  in  the  prose  of 
Boccacio  the  popular  religious  teachers  are  a  mark  for 
unbounded  ridicule.  English  poetry  begins  with  con- 
temptuous and  indignant  censure  of  the  monks  and 
higher  clergy,  with  the  boldest  manifestations  of  the 
anti-hierarchical  tendency.  "  Teutonism,"  says  Milman, 
"is  now  holding  its  first  initiatory  struggle  with  Latin 
Christianity."  1  "  The  Vision  of  Piers'  Ploughman,"  by 
William  Langland,  which  bears  the  date  of  1862,  is 
from  the  pen  of  an  earnest  reformer  who  values  reason 
and  conscience  as  the  guides  of  the  soul,  and  attributes 
the  sorrows  and  calamities  of  the  world  to  the  wealth 
and  worldly  temper  of  the  clergy,  and  especially  of  the 
mendicant  orders.2  The  poem  ends  with  an  assertion  of 
the  small  value  of  popes'  pardons  and  the  superiority  of 
a  righteous  life  over  trust  in  indulgences.  "  Pierce  the 
Ploughman's  Crede,"  is  a  poem  from  another  hand,  and 
supposed  to  have  been  written  in  1394.  The  poet  intro- 
duces a  plain  man  who  is  acquainted  with  the  rudi- 
ments of  Christian  knowledge  and  wants  to  learn  his 
creed.  He  applies  successively  to  the  four  orders  of 
mendicant  friars,  who  give  him  no  satisfaction,  but  rail  at 
each  other,  and  are  absorbed  in  riches  and  sensual  indul- 
gence. Leaving  them,  he  finds  an  honest  ploughman,  who 
inveighs  against  the  monastic  orders  and  gives  him  the 
instruction  which  he  desires.3     The  author  is  an  avowed 

1  History  of  Latin  Christianity,  viii.  372.  In  this  and  in  the  three  preced- 
ing chapters,  Milman  gives  an  interesting  description  of  the  early  vernacular 
literatures.  In  ch.  iv.  he  speaks  of  the  satirical  Latin  poems  that  sprang  up 
among  the  clergy  and  within  the  walls  of  convents. 

2  The  poem  is  among  the  publications  of  the  Early  English  Text  Society.  It 
is  analyzed  in  the  preface  of  Part  I.  Text  A.  See  also,  Warton,  History  of 
English  Poetry,  sect.  viii.  (vol.  ii.  44). 

55  The  poem  is  published  by  the  Early  English  Text  Society  (1867).  Warton, 
sect.  ix.  (ii.  87). 


THE  VERNACTJLAK  LITERATURE.  35 

Wickliffite.  Chaucer,  in  the  picture  of  social  life  which 
he  has  drawn  in  the  "  Canterbury  Tales,"  shows  himself 
in  full  accord  with  Wickliffe  in  the  hostility  to  the  men- 
dicant friars.  Chaucer  reserves  his  admiration  for  the 
simple  and  faithful  parish  priest,  "  rich  in  holy  thought 
and  work  ; "  the  higher  clergy  he  handles  in  a  genuine 
anti-sacerdotal  spirit.  In  the  "  Pardoner,"  laden  with 
his  relics,  and  with  his  wallet 

"  Brimful  of  pardons,  come  from  Rome  all  hot," 

he  depicts  a  character  who  even  then  excited  scorn  and 
reprobation. 

It  is  curious  to  observe  in  many  of  the  early  writers 
who  have  been  referred  to,  how  reverence  for  religion  and 
for  the  Church  is  blended  with  bitter  censure  of  the  ar- 
rogance and  wealth  of  ecclesiastics  ;  how  the  spiritual 
office  of  the  Pope  is  distinguished  from  his  temporal 
power.  In  the  one  character  he  is  revered,  in  the  other 
he  is  denounced.  The  fiction  of  Constantine's  donation 
of  his  western  dominions  to  Pope  Silvester,  which  was 
current  in  the  Middle  Ages,  accounted  for  all  the  evils  of 
the  Church,  in  "the  judgment  of  the  enemies  of  the  tein- 
poral  power.  There  was  the  source  of  the  pride  and 
wealth  of  the  popes.     Dante  adverts  to  it  in  the  lines : 

"Ah,  Constantine,  of  how  much  ill  was  mother, 
Not  thy  conversion,  but  that  marriage-dower, 
Which  the  first  wealthy  father  took  from  thee."  1 

And  in  another  place,  he  refers  to  Constantine,  who 

"Became  a  Greek  by  ceding  to  the  Pastor," 

and  says  of  him  in  Paradise, 

"  Now  knoweth  he  how  all  the  ill  deduced 
From  his  good  action  is  not  harmful  to  him, 
Although  the  world  thereby  may  be  destroyed."  2 

1  Inf.  xix.  115.         "  Ahi,  Costantin,  di  quanto  mal  fu  matre, 

Non  la  tua  conversion,  ma  quella  dote 
Che  date  prese  il  primo  ricco  patre!  " 

2  Parad.  xx.  58.      "  Ora  conosce  come  '1  mal,  dedutto 

Dal  suo  bene  operar,  non  gli  e  nocivo, 
Avvegna  che  sia  '1  mondo  indi  distrutto." 


36  RISE   AND   DECLINE   OF   THE   PAPAL   HIERARCHY. 

We  find  a  like  lament  respecting  the  fatal  gift  to  Sil- 
vester, in  the  Waldensian  poem,  "  The  Nofc>le  Lesson." 
Walter  von  der  Vogelweide  makes  the  angels,  when  Con- 
stantine  endowed  Silvester  with  worldly  power,  cry  out 
with  grief  ;  and  justly,  he  adds,  since  the  popes  were  to 
use  that  power  to  ruin  the  emperors  and  to  stir  up  the 
princes  against  them.1  These  bitter  lamentations  con- 
tinue to  be  heard  from  advocates  of  reform,  until  the  tale 
of  the  alleged  donation  was  discovered  to  be  destitute  of 
truth.2 

The  anti-hierarchical  spirit  was  powerfully  reinforced 
by  the  legists.  From  the  middle  of  the  thirteenth  cen- 
tury  the  University  of  Bologna  rose  in  importance  as  the 
great  seat  of  the  revived  study  of  Roman  jurisprudence. 
As  Paris  was  the  seminary  of  theology,  Bologna  was  the 
nursery  of  law.  Law  was  cultivated,  however,  at  other 
universities.3  That  a  class  of  laymen  should  arise  who 
were  devoted  to  the  study  and  exposition  of  the  ancient 
law  was  in  itself  a  significant  event.  The  legists  were 
the  natural  defenders  of  the  state,  the  powerful  auxilia- 
ries of  the  kings.4  Their  influence  was  in  opposition  to 
feudalism  and  on  the  side  of  monarchy,  and  placed  bul- 
warks round  the  civil  authority  in  its  contest  against  the 
encroachments  of  the  Church.  The  hierarchy  were  con- 
fronted by  a  body  of  learned  men,  the  guardians  of  a 
venerable  code,  who  claimed  for  the  kings  the  rights  of 
Caesar,  and  could  bring  forward  in  opposition  to  the  can- 
ons of  the  Church  canons  of  an  earlier  date.5 

The  effectual  reaction  against  the  Papacy  dates  from 
the  reign  of  Boniface  VIII.,  who  cherished  to  the  full 


1  Kurtz,  Gsch.  d.  deufscJi.  Lit.,  i.  50.     The  sonnet  —  "Der  Pfaffen  wahl  "  — 
is  given  by  Kurtz,  p.  56. 

2  The  first  public  and  formal  exposure  of  the  fiction  was  made  by  Laurentius 
Valla  in  the  fifteenth  century. 

8  Savigny,  Geschichte  des  riirn.  Recht.,  iii.  152  seq. 
4  Laurent,  Feodalite  et  l'£glise,  p.  G30. 
6  Milman,  vi.  241. 


CONFLICT    OF   PHILIP    VI.   AND   BONIFACE   VIII.  37 

extent  the  theories  of  Hildebrand  and  Innocent  III.,  but 
was  destitute  of  their  sagacity  and  practical  wisdom.1 
The  resistance  that  he  provoked  sprang  from  the  spirit 
which  we  have  termed  nationalism.  The  contest  in 
which  the  Hohenstaufen  had  perished,  was  taken  up  by 
the  King  of  France,  the  country  which  throughout  the 
Middle  Ages  had  been  the  most  faithful  protector  of  the 
Papacy,  and  whose  royal  house  had  been  established  by 
the  popes  on  an  Italian  throne  as  a  bulwark  against  the 
Empire.  It  was  ordained  that  their  protectors  should  be- 
come their  conquerors.2  The  conflict  of  Boniface  with 
Philip  the  Fair  is  of  remarkable  interest  for  many  rea- 
sons. One  source  of  Boniface's  anger  was  the  levying 
by  Philip  of  extraordinary  taxes  on  the  clergy  and  his 
prohibiting  of  the  exportation  of  gold  and  silver  from 
his  kingdom.  Another  point,  in  the  highest  degree  in- 
teresting, is  the  manner  in  which  the  rights  of  the  laity 
in  relation  to  the  clergy  come  up  for  discussion.  One  de- 
fining characteristic  of  the  Protestant  Reformation  was 
the  release  of  the  laity  from  subserviency  to  clerical  con- 
trol. There  is  something  ominous  in  the  opening  words 
which  give  its  title  to  one  of  the  famous  bulls  of  this 
pontiff  :  Clericis  laicos.  It  begins  with  reminding  Philip 
that  long  tradition  exhibits  laymen  as  hostile  and  mis- 
chievous to  clergymen.  Not  less  significant,  in  the  light 
of  subsequent  history,  is  one  of  the  responses  of  Philip 
to  the  Pope's  indignant  complaints,  in  which  the  king 
affirms  that  "  Holy  Mother  Church,  the  Spouse  of  Christ, 
is  composed  not  only  of  clergymen,  but  also  of  laymen  ;  " 
that  clergymen  are  guilty  of  an  abuse  when  they  try  to 
appropriate  exclusively  to  themselves  the    ecclesiastical 

1  Drumann,  Gsch.  Bonifacius  des  Achten  (1852.)  An  apologetic  biographer 
of  Boniface  is  Tosti,  Storia  di  Bonifacio  VIII.  e  de'  suoi  tempi  (1840).  In 
the  same  vein  is  the  article  of  Wiseman  (in  review  of  Sismondi),  Essays  on 
Various  Subjects,  iii.  161  seq.      Schwab,  in  the  (Roman  Catholic)    Quartal- 

schrift  (1846,  No.  1),  considers  that  Tosti  and  AYiscman  are  unduly  biased  in 
favor  of  Boniface.     H?s  reign  was  from  1294  to  1303. 

2  Gregorovius,  Geschichte  d.  Stadt  Rom  im  Mitttlalter,  v.  560. 


38  RISE   AND   DECLINE   OF   THE   PAPAL   HIERARCHY. 

liberty  with  which  the  grace  of  Christ  has  made  us  free ; 
that  Christ  himself  commanded  to  render  to  Caesar  the 
things  that  are  Caesar's.  More  remarkable  still  is  the 
fact  that  Philip  twice  summoned  to  his  support  the  es- 
tates of  his  realm,  and  that  the  nation  stood  firmly  by  its 
excommunicated  sovereign.  The  pontifical  assertions  in 
regard  to  the  two  swords,  the  supremacy  of  the  ecclesias- 
tical over  the  temporal  power,  and  the  subjection  of 
every  creature  to  the  Pope,  who  judges  all  and  is  judged 
by  none,  were  met  by  a  determined  resistance  on  the 
part  of  the  French  nation.  When  Boniface  summoned 
the  French  clergy  to  Rome  to  sit  in  judgment  on  the 
king,  the  act  aroused  a  tempest  of  indignation.  The 
Papal  Bull,  snatched  from  the  hand  of  the  Legate,  was 
publicly  burned  in  Notre  Dame,  on  the  11th  of  February, 
1302.  The  clergy  of  France  addressed  to  the  incensed 
pontiff  a  denial  of  his  proposition  that  in  secular  matters 
the  Pope  stands  above  the  King.  Finally  all  France 
united  in  an  appeal  to  a  general  council.  It  was  by  two 
laymen,  William  of  Nogaret,  keeper  of  the  king's  seal, 
and  Sciarra  Colonna,  that  the  personal  attack  was  made 
on  Boniface  at  Anagni,  which  resulted  shortly  afterwards 
in  his  death  (1303). 

We  have  now  reached  the  point  when  the  prestige  of 
the  Papacy  began  to  wane  as  rapidly  as,  in  the  preceding 
centuries,  it  had  grown.  This  fall  was  due  to  the 
expansion  of  intelligence,  to  the  general  change  in  society 
to  which  reference  has  been  made.  But  it  was  acceler- 
ated by  influences  which  were  subject,  to  a  considerable 
extent,  to  the  control  of  the  popes  themselves.  It  is  the 
period  of  the  Babylonian  captivity,  or  the  long  resi- 
dence of  the  popes  at  Avignon,  and  of  the  great  schism. 
During  a  great  part  of  this  period  the  Papacy  was 
enslaved  to  France,  and  administered  in  the  interest  of 
the  French  court.  This  situation  impelled  the  popes  to 
unjust  and  aggressive  measures  toward  Germany,  Eng- 


LOSS   OF   PRESTIGE.  39 

land,  and  other  Catholic  countries,  measures  which  could 
not  fail  to  provoke  earnest  resentment.  France  was  will- 
ing, as  long  as  the  Papacy  remained  her  tool,  to  indulge 
the  popes  in  extravagant  assertions  of  authority,  which 
could  only  have  the  effect  to  aggravate  the  opposition  on 
the  part  of  other  nations.  The  revenues  of  the  court 
at  Avignon  were  supplied  by  means  of  extortions  and 
usurpations  which  had  been  hitherto  without  example. 
The  multiplied  reservations  of  ecclesiastical  offices,  even 
of  bishoprics  and  parishes,  which  were  bestowed  by  the 
popes  upon  unworthy  persons,  or  given  in  commendam 
to  persons  already  possessed  of  lucrative  places ;  the 
claim  of  the  first  fruits  or  annates  —  a  tribute  from 
new  holders  of  benefices  —  and  the  levying  of  burdensome 
taxes  upon  all  ranks  of  the  clergy,  especially  those  of  the 
lower  grades,  were  among  the  methods  resorted  to  for 
replenishing  the  papal  treasury.  The  effect  of  these 
various  forms  of  ecclesiastical  oppression  upon  public 
opinion  was  the  greater,  when  it  was  known  that  the 
wealth  thus  gained  went  to  support  at  Avignon  an  ex- 
tremely luxurious  and  profligate  court,  the  boundless  im- 
morality of  which  has  been  vividly  depicted  by  Petrarch, 
an  eye-witness. 

The  attempt  of  John  XXII.  to  maintain  the  absolute 
supremacy  of  the  Pope  over  the  Empire  and  to  deprive 
Louis  of  Bavaria  of  his  crown,  that  he  might  place  it  on 
the  head  of  the  King  of  France,  had  an  effect  in  Ger- 
many analogous  to  that  produced  in  France  by  the  con- 
flict of  Boniface  and  Philip.  The  imperial  rights  found 
the  boldest  defenders.  At  length,  in  1338,  the  electoral 
princes  solemnly  declared  that  the  Roman  king  receives 
his  appointment  and  authority  solely  from  the  electoral 
college. 

In  England,  from  the  Constitutions  of  Clarendon  under 
Henry  II.,  in  1164,  there  had  been  manifest  a  disposition 
to  limit  the  jurisdiction  and  set  bounds  to  the  encroach- 


40  RISE  AND  DECLINE   OF   THE  PAPAL   HIERARCHY. 

ments  of  the  Church,  and  especially  to  curtail  foreign 
ecclesiastical  interference  in  the  affairs  of  the  kingdom.1 
Now  that  the  Papacy  had  become  the  instrument  of 
France,  this  spirit  of  resistance  was  naturally  quickened. 
Two  important  statutes  of  Edward  III.  were  the  con- 
sequence :  the  statute  of  provisors,  which  devolved  on 
the  King  the  right  to  fill  the  Church  offices  that  had 
been  reserved  to  the  Pope  ;  and  the  statute  of  praemu- 
nire, which  forbade  subjects  to  bring,  by  direct  prosecu- 
tion or  appeal,  before  any  foreign  tribunal,  a  cause  that 
fell  under  the  King's  jurisdiction. 

In  this  contest  of  the  fourteenth  century,  "monarchy" 
was  the  watchword  of  the  adversaries  of  the  Papacy,  the 
symbol  of  the  new  generation  who  were  breaking  loose 
from  the  dominant  ideas  of  the  Middle  Ages.  "  The  mon- 
archists rose  against  the  papists."2  In  France  it  was  the 
rights  of  the  throne  and  its  independence  of  the  Church 
which  were  maintained  by  the  jurists,  and  by  the  school- 
men, as  John  of  Paris  and  Occam,  who  came  to  their 
help.  In  Germany  it  was  the  old  imperial  rights  as  de- 
fined in  the  civil  law,  and  as  preceding  even  the  exist- 
ence of  the  Church,  that  were  defended.  In  opposition 
to  the  political  ideas  of  his  master  in  theology,  Thomas 
Aquinas,  Dante  wrote  his  noted  treatise  on  monarchy, 
in  advocacy  of  Ghibelline  principles,  against  the  claims 
of  the  popes  to  temporal  power.  Apart  from  the  great 
influence  of  this  book,  and  outside  of  Italy,  the  question 
of  the  origin  of  the  Empire  and  the  nature  of  monarchy 
in  general,  led  to  earnest  investigation.  In  Germany 
especially,  legists  and  theologians  immersed  themselves 
in  historical  and  critical  inquiries  upon  the  foundation 
of  civil  authority,  and  the  ground  on  which  papal  inter- 
ferences   with   secular  government  professed  to    repose. 

1  The  Constitutions  of  Clarendon  are  fully  described  by  Reuter,  Geschichte 
Alexanders  <l.  Dritten  v.  d.  Kircke  seiner  Zeit.,  ■)  vols.  (1860.) 

2  Gregorovius,  vi.  124. 


THE    MONARCHISTS   AND   THE   PAPISTS.  41 

These  writers  did  not  stop  with  confuting  the  notion 
that  the  Empire  was  transferred  by  papal  authority  from 
the  East  to  the  West.  The  celebrated  work  of  Marsilius 
of  Padua,  the  "  Defensor  Pacis,"  went  beyond  the  ideas  of 
the  age,  and  assailed  even  the  spiritual  authority  of  the 
Roman  bishop.  It  denied  that  Peter  was  supreme  over 
the  other  Apostles,  and  even  denied  that  he  can  be  proved 
to  have  ever  visited  Rome.  This  work  maintained  the 
supreme  authority  of  a  general  council.  The  Minorites, 
or  schismatical  Franciscans,  who  insisted  on  the  rule  of 
poverty  as  binding  on  the  clergy,  and  accused  John 
XXII.  of  heresy  for  rejecting  their  principle,  contended 
on  the  same  side.  William  of  Occam  seconded  Marsilius 
in  a  treatise  entitled,  "  Eight  Questions  on  the  Power  of 
the  Pope."  Occam,  like  Dante,  rested  his  denial  of  the 
validity  of  the  alleged  donation  of  Constantine  on  the 
ground  that  an  emperor  had  no  right  to  renounce  the  in- 
alienable rights  of  the  Empire.  He  placed  the  Emperor 
and  the  General  Council  above  the  Pope,  as  his  judges. 
Coronation,  he  said,  was  a  human  ceremony,  which  any 
bishop  could  perform.  "  These  bold  writings  attacked  the 
collective  hierarchy  in  all  its  fundamental  principles  :  they 
inquired,  with  a  sharpness  of  criticism  before  unknown, 
into  the  nature  of  the  priestly  office ;  they  restricted 
the  notion  of  heresy,  to  which  the  Church  had  given  so 
wide  an  extension ;  they  appealed,  finally,  to  the  Holy 
Scripture,  as  the  only  valid  authority  in  matters  of  faith. 
As  fervent  monarchists,  these  theologians  subjected  the 
Church  to  the  State.  Their  heretical  tendencies  an- 
nounced a  new  process  in  the  minds  of  men,  in  which 
the  unity  of  the  Catholic  Church  went  down."  It  is  to  be 
observed  that  among  the  principal  literary  champions  of 
Louis  of  Bavaria  there  was  found  a  representative  of 
each  of  the  cultivated  nations  of  the  West.1 

1  Gregorovius,  vi.  129,  130.  Copious  extracts  from  the  Defensor  Pad*, 
which  was  the  joint  production  of  Marsilius  of  Padua  and  John  of  Jandun, 
the  Emperor  Louis's  physician,  are  given  by  Gieseler,  in.  iv.  c.  1,  §  W,  n.  15. 


42  RISE   AND   DECLINE   OF   THE   PAPAL   HIERARCHY. 

During  the  schism  which  ensued  upon  the  election  of 
Urban  VI.  in  1378,  there  was  presented  before  {Christen- 
dom the  spectacle  of  rival  popes  imprecating  curses 
upon  each  other ;  each  with  his  court  to  be  maintained 
by  taxes  and  contributions,  which  had  to  be  largely  in- 
creased on  account  of  the  division.  When  men  were  com- 
pelled to  choose  between  rival  claimants  of  the  office,  it 
was  inevitable  that  there  should  arise  a  still  deeper  inves- 
tigation into  the  origin  and  grounds  of  papal  authority. 
Inquirers  reverted  to  the  earlier  ages  of  the  Church,  in 
order  to  find  both  the  causes  and  the  cure  of  the  dreadful 
evils  under  which  Christian  society  was  suffering.  More 
than  one  jurist  and  theologian  called  attention  to  the  am- 
bition of  the  popes  for  secular  rule  and  to  their  oppressive 
domination  over  the  Church,  as  the  prime  fountain  of 
this  frightful  disorder. 

We  have  now  to  glance  at  the  vigorous  and  prolonged 
endeavors,  which  proved  for  the  most  part  abortive,  to 
reform  the  Church  "  in  head  and  members."  Princes 
intervened  to  make  peace  between  popes,  as  popes  had 
before  intervened  to  make  peace  between  princes.1  It  is 
the  era  of  the  Reforming  Councils  of  Pisa,  Constance,  and 
Basel,  when,  largely  under  the  lead  of  the  Paris  theolo- 
gians, a  reformation  in  the  morals  and  administration  of 
the  Church  was  sought  through  the  agency  of  these 
great  assemblies.2  The  theory  on  which  D'Ailly,  Ger- 
son,  and  the  other  leaders  who  cooperated  with  them, 
proceeded,  was  that  of  episcopal,  as  contrasted  with  pa- 
pal, supremacy.  The  Pope  was  primate  of  the  Church, 
but  bishops  derived  their  authority  and  grace  for  the  dis- 
charge of  their  office,  not  from  him,  but  from  the  same 
source  as  that  from  which  he  derived  his  powers.  The 
Church,  when  gathered  together  by  its  representatives  in 
a  general  council,  is  the  supreme  tribunal,  to  which  the 
Pope  himself  is  subordinate  and  amenable.     Their  aim 

i  Laurent,  La  Reforme,  p.  29.  2  (1409-1448.) 


THE   REFORMING   COUNCILS.  43 

was  to  reduce  him  to  the  rank  of  a  constitutional  instead 
of  an  absolute  monarch.  The  Gallican  theologians  held 
to  an  infallibility  residing  somewhere  in  the  Church  ; 
most  of  them,  and  ultimately  all  of  them,  placing  this 
infallibility  in  oecumenical  councils.  The  nattering  hopes 
under  which  the  Council  of  Pisa  opened  its  proceedings, 
were  doomed  to  disappointment,  in  consequence  of  the 
reluctance  of  the  reformers  to  push  through  their  meas- 
•ures  without  a  pope,  and  the  failure  of  Alexander  V.  to 
redeem  the  pledges  which  he  had  made  them  prior  to 
his  election.  Moreover,  the  schism  continued,  with  three 
popes  in  the  room  of  two.  The  Council  of  Constance 
began  under  the  fairest  auspices.  The  resolve  to  vote  by 
nations  was  a  significant  sign  of  a  new  order  of  things, 
and  crushed  the  design  of  the  flagitious  Pope  John 
XXIII.  to  control  the  assembly  by  the  preponderance 
of  Italian  votes.  Solemn  declarations  of  the  supremacy 
and  authority  of  the  Council  were  adopted,  and  were 
carried  out  in  the  actual  deposition  of  the  infamous  Pope. 
But  the  plans  of  reform  were  mostly  wrecked  on  the  same 
rock  on  which  they  had  broken  at  Pisa.  A  pope  must  be 
elected  ;  and  Martin  V. ,  once  chosen,  by  skillful  manage- 
ment and  by  separate  arrangements  with  different  princes, 
was  able  to  undo,  to  a  great  extent,  the  salutary  work  of 
the  Council,  and  even  before  its  adjournment  to  reassert 
the  very  doctrine  of  papal  superiority  which  the  Council 
had  repudiated.  The  substantial  failure  of  this  Council, 
the  most  august  ecclesiastical  assemblage  of  the  Middle 
Ages,  to  achieve  reforms  which  thoughtful  and  good  men 
everywhere  deemed  indispensable,  was  a  proof  that  some 
more  radical  means  of  reformation  would  have  to  be 
adopted.  But  another  grand  effort  in  the  same  direction 
was  put  forth ;  and  the  Council  of  Basel,  notwithstanding 
that  it  adopted  numerous  measures  of  a  beneficent  charac- 
ter, which  were  acceptable  to  the  Catholic  nations,  had  at 
last  no  better  issue  ;  for  most  of  the  advantages  that  were 


44  KISE   AND  DECLINE    OF   THE  PAPAL   HIERARCHY. 

granted  to  them  and  the  concessions  that  were  made  by 
the  popes,  especially  to  Germany,  they  contrixed  after- 
ward, by  adroit  diplomacy,  to  recall. 

If  Ave  look  at  the  condition  of  Europe  in  the  fifteenth 
century,  after  the  time  of  the  schism  and  the  reforming 
councils,  we  observe  that  political  considerations  have 
sway,  in  the  room  of  distinctively  ecclesiastical  motives 
and  feelings.1  National  rivalries  and  the  ambition  of 
princes  are  everywhere  prominent.  The  sovereigns  of 
Europe  are  endeavoring  to  augment  their  power  at  the 
expense  of  the  Church,  especially  by  taking  into  their 
hands  ecclesiastical  appointments.  It  was  during  the 
fifteenth  century  that  the  European  monarchies  were  ac- 
quiring a  firm  organization.  In  England  the  wars  of  the 
Roses  ended  with  the  accession  of  Henry  VII.,  and  in  his 
son  and  successor  the  rights  of  both  lines  were  united. 
In  France  the  century  of  strife  with  England  had  been 
followed  by  the  reduction  of  the  great  feudatories  to  sub- 
jection to  the  crown.  In  Spain,  Castile  and  Aragon  were 
united  by  the  marriage  of  their  sovereigns,  and  their 
kingdom  was  consolidated  by  the  conquest  of  Granada. 

At  this  critical  epoch,  when  it  would  have  been  in  the 
highest  degree  difficult  for  pontiffs  devoted  to  the  inter- 
ests of  religion  to  breast  the  dominant  spirit  of  national- 
ism, it  appeared  to  be  the  sole  ambition  of  a  series  of 
popes  to  aggrandize  their  families  or  to  strengthen  the 
states  of  the  Church.  No  longer  absorbed  in  any  grand 
public  object,  like  the  crusades,  they  plotted  and  fought 
to  build  up  principalities  in  Italy  for  their  relatives.  To 
the  furtherance  of  such  worldly  schemes,  they  often  applied 
the  treasures  which  they  procured  by  taxing  the  Church 
and  from  the  sale  of  church  offices.  The  vicious  character 
of  several  of  them  augmented  the  scandal  which  this  cor- 

1  The  controversy,  during  this  period,  between  the  advocates  of  the  aristo- 
cratic or  Galilean  and  of  the  papal  systems,  is  described,  with  copious  citations 
from  the  polemical  writers  who  participated  in  it,  by  Gieseler,  Church  History, 
in.  v.  i.  §  136. 


MORAL   FALL   OF   THE   PAPACY.  45 

rapt  policy  created.  Sixtus  IV.,  aiming  to  found  a  prin- 
cipality for  his  nephew  —  or,  according  to  Machiavelli, 
his  illegitimate  son  Girolamo  Riario  —  favored  the  con- 
spiracy against  the  lives  of  Julian  and  Lorenzo  de  Medici, 
which  resulted  in  the  assassination  of  the  former  on  the 
steps  of  the  altar,  during  the  celebration  of  high  mass. 
He  then  joined  Naples  in  making  war  on  Florence.  In 
order  to  gain  Ferrara  for  his  nephew,  he  first  incited 
Venice  to  war ;  but  when  his  nephew  went  over  to  the 
side  of  Naples,  the  Pope  forsook  his  Venetian  allies  and 
excommunicated  them.  Little  regard  was  paid  to  this 
act,  and  his  consequent  chagrin  hastened  his  death.  In- 
nocent VIII.,  besides  advancing  the  fortunes  of  seven 
illegitimate  children,  and  waging  two  wars  with  Naples, 
received  an  annual  tribute  from  the  Sultan  for  detaining 
his  brother  and  rival  in  prison,  instead  of  sending  him  to 
lead  a  force  against  the  Turks,  the  enemies  of  Christen- 
dom. Alexander  VI.,  whose  wickedness  brings  to  mind 
the  dark  days  of  the  Papacy  in  the  tenth  century,  occu- 
pied himself  in  building  up  a  principality  for  his  favorite 
son,  that  monster  of  depravity,  Caesar  Borgia,  and  in 
amassing  treasures,  by  base  and  cruel  means,  for  the  sup- 
port of  the  licentious  Roman  Court.  He  is  said  to  have 
died  of  the  poison  which  he  had  caused  to  be  prepared 
for  a  rich  cardinal,  who  bribed  the  head  cook  to  set  it  be- 
fore the  Pope  himself.  If  Julius  II.  satisfied  the  ambi- 
tion of  his  family  in  a  more  peaceable  way,  he  still  found 
his  enjoyment  in  war  and  conquest,  and  made  it  his  sole 
task  to  extend  the  States  of  the  Church.  He  organized 
alliances  and  defeated  one  enemy  after  another,  forcing 
Venice  to  succumb,  and  not  hesitating,  old  man  as  he  was, 
to  take  the  field  himself,  in  winter.  Having  brought  in 
the  French,  and  joined  the  league  of  Cambray  for  the  sake 
of  subduing  Venice,  he  called  to  his  side  the  Venetians 
for  the  expulsion  of  the  French  (151 0).1 

1  Germany  embodied  its  complaints  against  the  corrupt  and  extortionate  ad- 


46  RISE  AND   DECLINE   OF   THE  PAPAL  HIERARCHY. 

This  absorption  of  the  popes  in  selfish  and  secular 
schemes  was  not  in  an  age  of  ignorance,  but  just  at  the 
period  when  learning  had  revived  and  when  Europe  had 
entered  upon  an  era  of  inventions  and  discoveries  which 
were  destined  to  put  a  new  face  upon  civilization.  The 
demoralized  condition  of  the  Church  was  a  fact  that 
could  not  fail  to  draw  to  itself  general  attention. 

Leo  X.,  made  a  cardinal  at  the  age  of  thirteen  and 
pope  at  thirty-seven,  whose  pontificate  was  to  be  signal- 
ized by  the  beginning  of  the  Reformation,  was  free  from 
the  revolting  vices  which  had  degraded  '  several  of  his 
near  predecessors,  and  from  the  violent'  and  belligerent 
temper  of  Julius  II.,  who  immediately  preceded  him.1 
Yet  the  influence  of  his  character  and  policy  was  calcu- 
lated to  strengthen  the  disaffection  toward  the  Papacy. 
Sarpi,  in  his  "  History  of  the  Council  of  Trent,"  after  prais- 
ing the  learning,  taste,  and  liberality  of  Leo,  remarks  with 
fine  wit,  that  "  he  would  have  been  a  perfect  Pope,  if  he 
had  combined  with  these  qualities  some  knowledge  of  the 
affairs  of  religion  and  a  greater  inclination  to  piety,  for 
neither  of  which  he  manifested  much  concern."  2  Even 
Pallavicini,  the  opponent  of  Sarpi,  laments  that  Leo  called 
about  him  those  who  were  rather  familiar  with  the  fables 
of  Greece  and  the  delights  of  the  poets  than  with  the 
history  of  the  Church  and  the  doctrine  of  the  fathers. 
He  deplores  the  devotion  of  Leo  to  profane  studies,  to 
hunting,  jesting,  and  pageants  ;  to  employments  ill  suited 
to  his  exalted  office.     If  he  had  been  surrounded  by  theo- 

ministration  of  Julius,  as  related  to  that  country,in  Gravamina.  A  revolt  against 
ecclesiastics,  or  a  great  defection  from  the  Roman  Church,  like  that  of  the  Bo- 
hemians, were  declared  to  be  imminent,  if  these  evils  were  not  corrected. 
—  Gieseler,  in.  v.  1,  §  135,  n.  8. 

1  There  is  no  ground  for  believing  the  scandalous  charges  of  immorality  which 
have  been  made  against  him.  They  are  brought  together  from  the  original 
sources  in  Bayle's  Dictionary. 

-  "E  sarebbe  stato  im  perfetto  Pontefice,  se  con  queste  avesse  congiunto  qualche 
coffnizione  delle  cose  della  religione,  ed  aliquanto  piu  d'inclinazione  alia  pieta, 
dell'  una  e  dell'  altra  delle  quali  non  mostrava  aver  gran  cura."  Istoria  del  Con- 


CHARACTER   OF   LEO   X.  47 

logians,  Pallavicini  thinks  that  he  would  have  been  more 
cautious  in  distributing  indulgences  and  that  the  heresies 
of  Luther  might,  perhaps,  have  been  quickly  suppressed 
by  the  writings  of  learned  men.1  The  Italian  historians 
Muratori  and  Guicciardini,  in  connection  with  their  praise 
of  Leo,  state  the  misgivings  that  were  felt  by  wise  men 
at  the  costly  pomp  which  he  displayed  at  his  coronation, 
and  censure  his  laxity  in  the  administration  of  his  office.2 
The  chief  pastor  of  the  Church  was  seen  to  give  himself 
up  to  the  fascinations  of  literature,  art,  and  music.  In  his 
gay  and  luxurious  court,  religion  was  a  matter  of  subord- 
inate concern.  Vast  sums  of  money  which  were  gathered 
from  Christian  people  were  lavished  upon  his  relatives.8 
Leo's  influence  fostered  what  Ranke  has  well  called  "  a 
sort  of  intellectual  sensuality." 

It  is  true  that  occasionally  the  interests  of  sovereigns 
moved  them  tacitly  to  admit  pretensions  on  the  side  of 
the  popes,  that  were  fast  becoming  obsolete.  In  1452, 
Nicholas  V.  granted  to  Alphonso,  King  of  Portugal,  the 
privilege  of  subduing  and  reducing  to  perpetual  servitude, 
Saracens,  Pagans,  and  other  infidels  and  enemies  of  Christ, 
and  of  appropriating  to  himself  all  of  their  kingdoms, 
territories,  and  property  of  whatever  sort,  public  and  pri- 
vate ;  and  two  years  afterwards,  by  the  same  "  apostolic 
authority,"  he  bestowed  on  him  the  new  discoveries  on 
the  western  coast  of  Africa.  Alexander  VI.,  in  virtue  of 
rights  derived  from  Peter  to  the  Apostolic  See,  assumed 

cilio  Trid.,  lib.  i.  (torn.  i.  5).  Not  very  different  is  the  estimate  of  a  modern 
Catholic  writer  :  "  Er  besass  herrliche  Eigenschaften  des  Geistes  unci  Herzens 
eine  feine  Bildung,  Kenntniss  und  Liebe  fur  Kunst  und  Wissenschaft  ;  aber 
fur  einen  Papst  war  erviel  zu  vergniigungsiichtig,  verschwenderisch  und  lander- 
siichtig."     J.  I.  Ritter,  Kirchengeschichte,  ii.  143. 

1  Istoria  di  Concilia  di  Trento,  torn.  i.  lib.  i.  c.  ii. 

2  Muratori,  Armali  &  Italia,  torn.  xiv.  156.  Guicciardini,  Istoria  d}  Italia, 
torn.  vi.  p.  81.     See,  also,  torn.  vii.  pp.  108,  109. 

3  Ranke,  Deutsche  Geschichte,  i.  255.  Roscoe  {Life  of  Leo  X.,  iv.  ch.  xxiv.) 
defends  him  against  the  imputation  of  unchastity,  but  does  not  conceal  the 
pleasure  he  took  in  buffoonery,  and  mildly  regrets  his  double-dealing  in  his  in- 
tercourse with  sovereigns. 


48  RISE   AND   DECLINE   OF   THE  PAPAL    HIERARCHY. 

to  give  away,  "  of  his  mere  liberality,"  to  Ferdinand  and 
Isabella,  all  the  newly  discovered  regions  of  ,  America, 
from  a  line  stretching  one  hundred  leagues  westward  of 
the  Azores,  and  extending  "  from  the  arctic  to  the  ant- 
arctic pole/'  Afterwards  Ferdinand  allowed  to  the  King 
of  Portugal  that  this  line  should  run  three  hundred  and 
sixty,  instead  of  one  hundred  leagues  to  the  west  of  the 
Azores.  But  the  importance  of  the  popes  in  this  period 
was  chiefly  dependent  on  their  temporal  power  in  Italy, 
and  on  the  political  combinations  which  they  were  able 
to  organize.  The  concessions  which  they  obtained  from 
princes  were  often  of  more  apparent  than  real  conse- 
quence. This  fact  is  illustrated  in  the  surrender  of  the 
Pragmatic  Sanction  by  Francis  I.  to  Leo  X.  (1515). 

In  1438,  after  the  Council  of  Basel  had  passed  its  re- 
forming measures,  Charles  VII.  assembled  the  clergy  of 
France  in  a  great  Synod  at  Bourges.  Nearly  two  cen- 
turies before,  that  devoted  son  of  the  Church,  Louis  IX., 
—  St.  Louis  of  France  —  had  issued  the  famous  Prag- 
matic Sanction,  the  charter  of  Gallican  liberties,  by  which 
interference  with  free  elections  to  benefices  in  France,  and 
exactions  and  assessments  of  money  on  the  part  of  the 
popes,  except  on  urgent  occasions,  and  with  the  king's 
consent,  were  forbidden.  With  this  example  before  them, 
the  Synod  of  Bourges  asserted  the  rights  of  national 
churches;  not  only  above  the  Pope,  but  also  above  the 
Council,  a  part  but  not  all  of  whose  reformatory  decrees 
it  adopted.  It  declared  the  Pope  subject  to  a  general 
council,  and  bound  to  convoke  a  council  every  ten  years. 
The  right  of  nomination  to  benefices  was  denied  to  the 
Pope,  except  in  a  few  instances  specially  reserved,  and 
appeals  to  him  were  restricted  to  the  gravest  cases. 
Among  the  provisions  of  the  Bourges  Sanction  was  the 
denunciation  of  annates  and  first-fruits  as  simony.  The 
efforts  of  Pius  II.  and  Paul  II.  to  procure  the  repeal  of 
the  Pragmatic  Sanction  were   steadily  resisted   by  the 


SECULAR  SPIRIT   OF   THE  PAPACY.  49 

French  Parliament.  When,  therefore,  Leo  X.  succeeded 
in  obtaining  from  Francis  I.,  after  his  victorious  campaign 
in  Italy,  the  abandonment  of  the  Sanction,  it  seemed  to 
be  a  great  advance  on  the  side  of  the  Papacy.  In  reality, 
however,  although  the  Gallican  Church  was  robbed  of  its 
liberties,  the  Pope  gained  only  the  annates,  while  the 
power  of  nominating  to  the  great  benefices  fell  to  the 
king.  Moreover,  the  coercion  that  was  required  to  bring 
the  Parliament  to  register  the  new  Concordat,  and  the 
indignation  which  it  awakened  throughout  France,  proved 
that  it  resulted  from  no  change  in  the  sentiments  of  the 
nation. 

The  long  struggle  of  Francis  I.  and  Charles  V.,  and 
the  way  in  which  it  affected  the  fortunes  of  Protestantism, 
afford  a  constant  illustration  of  the  predominance  which 
had  been  gained  by  secular  and  political,  over  purely 
ecclesiastial  interests.  There  were  critical  moments  when 
not  only  the  king  and  the  emperor,  but  the  Pope  also, 
were  led  from  motives  of  policy  to  become  the  virtual 
allies  of  the  Protestant  cause. 

It  is  a  striking  incident,  and  yet  illustrative  of  the 
spirit  of  the  age,  that  the  Emperor  Maximilian  sent  word 
to  the  Elector  Frederic  of  Saxony  to  take  good  care  of  Lu- 
ther—  "  we  might,  perhaps,  have  need  of  him  some  time 
or  other."  x  For  fear  that  Charles  V.  would  be  too  much 
strengthened  by  the  destruction  of  the  Protestant  League 
of  Smalcald,  Pope  Paul  III.  recalled  the  troops  which  he 
had  lent  to  the  Emperor,  and  encouraged  Francis  I.  to 
prosecute  his  design  of  aiding  the  Protestants.  The  Pope 
sent  a  message  to  the  French  king,  "  to  help  those  who 
were  not  yet  beaten."  At  the  moment  when  the  Protes- 
tant cause  might  seem  to  be  on  the  verge  of  extinction, 
the  Pope  and  the  King  of  France  appear  as  its  defenders. 
Francis  even  sought  to  make  the  Turks  his  allies  in  his 
struggle  against  the  Emperor.     What  a  change  was  this 

i  Ranke,  Deutsch.  Gsch.,  i.  216;  History  of  the  Popes,  i.  8G. 
4 


50  RISE   AND   DECLINE   OF   THE   PAPAL   HIERARCHY. 

from  the  days  when  the  princes  and  nations  of  Europe 
were  banded  together,  at  the  call  of  the  Church,  to  wrest 
the  holy  places  from  the  infidels  ! x 

Thus,  at  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century,  there 
are  two  facts  which  arrest  attention  :  — 

First,  the  development  and  consolidation  of  the  nations, 
in  their  separate  individuality,  each  with  its  own  lan- 
guage, culture,  laws,  and  institutions,  and  animated  by  a 
national  spirit  that  chafed  under  foreign  ecclesiastical  con- 
trol. 

Secondly,  the  secularizing  of  the  Papacy.  The  popes 
had  virtually  renounced  the  lofty  position  which  they  still 
assumed  to  hold,  and  which,  to  a  certain  extent,  they  had 
once  really  held,  of  moral  and  religious  guardians  of  so- 
ciety. As  temporal  rulers,  they  were  immersed  in  politi- 
cal contests  and  schemes  of  ambition.  To  further  these, 
they  prostituted  the  opportunities  afforded  by  their  spir- 
itual function,  and  by  the  traditional  reverence  of  men, 
which,  though  weakened,  was  still  powerful,  for  their 
episcopal  authority.  It  was  unavoidable  that  they  and 
their  office  with  them,  should  sink  in  public  esteem. 
"  During  the  Middle  Ages,"  says  Coleridge,  the  Papacy 
was  another  name  "  for  a  confederation  of  learned  men 
in  the  west  of  Europe  against  the  barbarism  and  igno- 
rance of  the  times.  The  Pope  was  the  chief  of  this  con- 
federacy ;  and,  so  long  as  he  retained  that  character,  his 
power  was  just  and  irresistible.  It  was  the  principal 
means  of  preserving  for  us  and  for  all  posterity  all  that 
we  now  have  of  the  illumination  of  past  ages.  But  as 
soon  as  the  Pope  made  a  separation  between  his  character 
as  premier  clerk  in  Christendom  and  as  a  secular  prince  — 
as  soon  as  he  began  to  squabble  for  towns  and  castles  — 
then  he  at  once  broke  the  charm,  and  gave  birth  to  a 
revolution."  "  Everywhere,  but  especially  throughout 
the  North  of  Europe,  the  breach  of  feeling  and  sympathy 

i  Ranke,  Deutsch.  Gsch.,  i.  83. 


SECULAR   SPIRIT   OF   THE   PAPACY.  51 

went  on  widening  ;  so  that  all  Germany,  England,  Scot- 
land, and  other  countries,  started,  like  giants  out  of  their 
sleep,  at  the  first  blast  of  Luther's  trumpet."  1 

i  Table  Talk  (July  24,  1830).  Almost  the  same  statement  as  to  the  moral 
fall  of  the  Papacy  is  made  by  a  fair-minded  Catholic  historian.  He  traces  its 
decline  from  the  Babylonian  captivity,  through  the  period  of  the  Reforming 
Councils,  and  the  reign  of  Julius  II.  and  the  popes  of  the  house  of  Medici. 
"  Bis  dahin  batten  die  Piipste  durch  ihr  Vermittleramt  iiber  den  Fiirsten  ges- 
tanden;  jetzt  aber  stellten  sie  sich  den^elben  gleich  und  erweckten,  durch  ihre 
Lander-  und  Kriegslust,  Neid  und  Hass  gegen  sich.  So  war  die  ganze  moral- 
ische  Kraft,  wodurch  Rom  seit  vier  Jahrhunderten  die  Welt  beherrscht  hatte, 
untergraben,  und  es  bediirfte  nur  eines  kraftigen  Stosses,  urn  sie  iiber  den 
Haufen  zu  werfen."     J.  I.  Ritter,  Kirch en geschichte,  ii.  143. 


CHAPTER    III. 

SPECIAL   CAUSES    AND    OMENS    OF   AN   ECCLESIASTICAL 
REVOLUTION   PRIOR  TO  THE  SIXTEENTH   CENTURY. 

The  medieval  type  of  religion,  in  contrast  with  prim 
itive  Christianity,  is  pervaded  by  a  certain  legalism. 
Everything  is  prescribed,  reduced  to  rule,  subjected  to 
authority.  Mediaeval  Catholicism  may  be  contemplated 
under  the  three  departments  of  dogma,  of  polity,  and 
of  Christian  life,  under  which  modes  of  worship  are 
included.1  Under  this  last  comprehensive  rubric,  mon- 
asticism,  for  example,  which  springs  out  of  a  certain  con- 
ception of  the  Christian  life,  belongs.  The  dogmatic  sys- 
tem, as  elaborated  by  the  schoolmen  from  the  materials 
furnished  by  tradition  and  sanctioned  by  the  Church, 
constituted  a  vast  body  of  doctrine,  which  every  Chris- 
tian was  bound  to  accept  in  all  its  particulars.  The 
polity  of  the  Church  lodged  all  government  in  the  hands 
of  a  superior  class,  the  priesthood,  who  were  the  com- 
missioned, indispensable  almoners  of  divine  grace.  The 
worship  centered  in  the  sacrifice  of  the  mass,  a  constantly 
repeated  miracle  wrought  by  the  hands  of  the  priest. 
In  the  idea  of  the  Christian  life,  the  visible  act  was  made 
to  count  for  so  much,  ceremonies  were  so  multiplied  and 
so  highly  valued,  that  a  character  of  '  externality  was 
stamped  upon  the  method  of  salvation.  Salvation,  in- 
stead of  being  a  purely  gratuitous  act,  flowing  from  the 
mercy  of  God,  was  connected  with  human  merit.  The 
quantitative,   as   opposed  to  the  qualitative  standard  of 

1  Ullmann,  Reformatoren  vor  der  Reformation,  i.  p.  13  seq. 


A    SPIRITUAL    REACTION.  53 

excellence,  the  disposition  to  lay  stress  on  performances 
and  abstinences,  instead  of  the  spirit  or  principle  at  the 
foundation  of  the  whole  life,  lay  at  the  root  of  celibacy 
and  the  monastic  institution.  The  masses,  pilgrimages, 
fastings,  flagellations,  prayers  to  saints,  homage  to  their 
relics  and  images,  and  similar  features  so  prominent  in 
mediaeval  piety,  illustrate  its  essential  character.  Chris- 
tianity was  converted  into  an  external  ordinance,  into  a 
round  of  observances.1 

The  reaction  which  manifested  itself  from  time  to  time 
.within  the  Church,  anterior  to  the  Reformation,  might 
have  a  special  relation  to  either  of  the  constituent 
elements  of  the  mediaeval  s}rstem,  or  it  might  be  directed 
against  them  all  together.  It  might  appear  in  the  form 
of  dissent  from  the  prevailing  dogmas,  especially  from 
the  doctrine  of  human  merit  in  salvation ;  it  might  be 
leveled  against  the  priesthood  as  usurping  a  function  not 
given  them  in  the  Gospel,  and  as  departing  in  various 
ways  from  the  primitive  idea  of  the  Christian  ministry  ; 
it  might  take  the  form  of  an  explicit  or  indirect  resist- 
ance to  the  exaggerated  esteem  of  rites  and  ceremonies 
and  austerities.  In  either  of  these  directions  the  spirit- 
ual element  of  Christianity,  which  had  become  overlaid 
and  cramped  by  traditions,  might  appear  as  an  antago- 
nistic or  silently  renovating  force.  A  general  progress  of 
intelligence,  especially  if  it  should  lead  to  the  study  of 
early  Christianity,  would  tend  to  the  same  result. 

The  forerunners  of  the  Reformation  have  been  prop- 
erly divided  into  two  classes.2  The  first  of  them  con- 
sists of  the  men  who,  in  the  quiet  path  of  theological 
research  and  teaching,  or  by  practical  exertions  in  behalf 
of  a  contemplative,  spiritual  tone  of  piety,  were  under- 
mining the  traditional  system.     The  second  embraces  the 

1  This  fact  is  well  presented  by  Ullman,  Reformatoren  vor  der  Reformation, 
i.  p.  xiii.  seq.,  p.  8  seq. 

2  Ullmann,  i.  p.  15  seq. 


54     SPECIAL    CAUSES   AND    OMENS    OF   THE   REFORMATION. 

names  of  men  who  are  better  known,  for  the  reason  that 
they  attempted  to  carry  out  their  ideas  practically  in  the 
way  of  effecting  ecclesiastical  changes.  The  first  class 
are  more  obscure,  but  were  not  less  influential  in  prepar- 
ing the  ground  for  the  Reformation.  Protestantism  was 
a  return  to  the  Scriptures  as  the  authentic  source  of 
Christian  knowledge  and  to  the  principle  that  salvation, 
that  inward  peace,  is  not  from  the  Church  or  from  human 
works  ethical  or  ceremonial,  but  through  Christ  alone, 
received  by  the  soul  in  an  act  of  trust.  Whoever, 
whether  in  the  chair  of  theology,  in  the  pulpit,  through 
the  devotional  treatise,  or  by  fostering  the  study  of  lan- 
guages and  of  history,  or  in  perilous  combat  with  ecclesi- 
astical abuses,  drew  the  minds  of  men  to  the  Scriptures 
and  to  a  more  spiritual  conception  of  religion,  was,  in  a 
greater  or  less  measure,  a  reformer  before  the  Reforma- 
tion. 

In  the  preceding  chapter  we  have  reviewed  the  rise  of 
the  hierarchical  order,  and  have  noticed  one  of  the  main 
causes,  the  tendency  to  centralization,  the  spirit  of  na- 
tionalism, which  had  weakened  the  authority  of  the 
clergy,  and  especially,  at  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth 
century,  had  materially  reduced  the  power  of  the 
Papacy. 

We  have  now  to  direct  attention  to  various  special 
causes  and  omens  of  an  approaching  revolution,  which 
would  affect  not  only  the  polity  but  the  entire  religious 
system  of  the  mediaeval  Church. 

I.  Among  these  phenomena  is  to  be  mentioned  the  rise 
of  anti-sacerdotal  sects  which  sprang  up  as  early  as  the 
eleventh  century,  but  flourished  chiefly  in  the  twelfth  and 
thirteenth.  These  indicated  a  wide-spread  dissatisfaction 
with  the  worldliness  of  the  clergy,  and  with  prelatical 
government  in  the  Church.  There  were  individuals,  like 
Peter  of  Bruys,  himself  a  priest,  and  Henry  the  Deacon, 
a  monk  of  Clugny,  who,  in  the  earlier  part  of  the  twelfth 


ANTI-SACERDOTAL    SECTS.  55 

century,  made  a  great  disturbance  in  Southern  France  by 
vehement  invectives  against  the  immoralities  of  the  priest- 
hood and  their  usurped  dominion.  The  simultaneous  ap- 
pearance of  persons  of  this  character,  whose  impassioned 
harangues  won  for  them  numerous  adherents,  shows  that 
the  popular  reverence  for  the  clergy  was  shaken.  Con- 
spicuous among  the  sectaries  of  this  period  are  the 
Catharists,  who  were  found  in  several  countries,  but 
were  most  numerous  in  the  cities  of  North  Italy  and  of  the 
south  of  France.  The  dualism  of  the  ancient  Manicheans 
and  of  the  later  Paulicians  —  the  theory  that  the  empire 
of  the  world  is  divided  between  two  antagonistic  princi- 
ples —  together  with  the  asceticism  that  grows  out  of  it, 
reappears  in  a  group  of  sects,  which  wear  different  names 
in  the  various  regions  where  they  are  found.1  They  are 
characterized  in  common  by  a  renunciation  of  the  au- 
thority of  the  priesthood.  In  Southern  France,  where 
they  acquired  the  name  of  Albigenses,  they  were  well 
organized,  and  were  protected  by  powerful  laymen.  The 
poems  of  the  troubadours  show  to  what  extent  the  clergy 
had  fallen  into  disrepute  in  this  wealthy  and  nourishing 
district.2  In  the  extensive,  opulent,  and  most  civilized 
portion  of  France,  which  formed  the  dominion  of  the 
Count  of  Toulouse,  the  old  religion  was  virtually  sup- 
planted by  the  new  sect.  The  Albigensian  preachers,  who 
mingled  with  their  heterodox  tenets  a  sincere  zeal  for 
purity  of  life,  were  heard  with  favor  by  all  classes.  The 
extirpation  of  this  numerous  and  formidable  sect  was  ac- 

1  Upon  the  origin  and  mutual  relation  of  these  sects,  their  tenets,  and  their 
relation  to  the  earlier  dualistic  heresies,  see  Neander,  Church  History,  iv.  552, 
seq.;  Gieseler,  Kirchengeschichte,  in.  iii.  7,  §87;  Milman,  History  of  Latin 
Christianity,  v.  156  seq.;  Baur,  Kirchengeschichte,  iii.  48;)  seq.;  Schmidt. 
Hist,  et  Doctrine  de  la  Secte  des  Cathares  (Paris,  18-49),  and  article  "  Katharer  " 
in  Herzog's  Real-Encyclopddie ;  Hahn,  Geschichte  d.  Ketzerim  .Vitti  latter,  i.  ; 
Maitland,  Facts  and  Documents  illustrative  of  the  History,  etc..  of  the  Albi- 
genses and  the  Waldenses  (1832);  also,  Eight  Essays-  (Loud.  1852).  Schmidt 
attempts  to  disprove  the  historic  connection  of  the  Catharists  with  the  Paulicians 
as  well  as  with  the  Manicheans. 

2  Milman,  Latin  Christianity,  v.  164.     See  also  p.  137. 


56     SPECIAL  CAUSES  AND  OMENS  OF  THE  REFORMATION. 

complished  only  through  a  bloody  crusade,  that  was  set 
on  foot  under  the  auspices  of  Innocent  III.,  and  was  fol- 
lowed by  the  efforts  of  the  Inquisition,  which  hete  had  its 
beginning.1  The  Albigenses,  in  their  opposition  to  the 
authority  of  ecclesiastical  tradition  and  of  the  hierarchy, 
and  in  their  rejection  of  pilgrimages  and  of  certain  prac- 
tices, like  the  worship  of  saints  and  images,  anticipated 
the  Protestant  doctrine  ;  although  in  other  respects  their 
creed  is  even  more  at  variance  with  the  spirit  of  Protes- 
tantism than  is  that  of  their  opponents.  It  is  interesting 
to  observe  that  at  the  moment  when  the  Papacy  appeared 
to  be  at  the  zenith  of  its  power,  a  rebellion  broke  out, 
which  could  only  be  put  down  by  a  great  exertion  of 
military  force,  and  by  brutalities  which  have  left  an  in- 
delible stain  upon  those  who  instigated  them.2 

The  Waldenses,  a  party  not  tainted  with  Manichean 
doctrine,  and  distinct  from  the  Catharists,  arose  in  1170, 
under  the  lead  of  Peter  Waldo,  of  Lyons.  Finding  them- 
selves forbidden  to  preach  in  a  simple  manner,  after  the 
example  of  the  Apostles,  the  "  Poor  Men  of  Lyons,"  as 
they  were  styled,  made  a  stand  against  the  exclusive  right 
of  the  clergy  to  teach  the  Gospel.  Although  the  Waldenses 
are  not  of  so  high  antiquity  as  was  often  supposed,  since 
they  do  not  reach  further  back  than  Waldo,  and  although 
they  were  far  less  enlightened  as  to  doctrine  than  they  be- 
came after  they  had  been  brought  in  contact  with  Protes- 
tantism, yet  their  attachment  to  the  Scriptures,  and  their 
opposition  to  clerical  usurpation  and  profligacy,  entitle 
them  to  a  place  among  the  precursors  of  the  Reformation.3 

1  "It  was  a  war,"  says  Guizot,  "between  feudal  France  and  municipal 
France."     History  of  Civilizai 'ion,  lect.  x. 

'}  The  distinguished  Catholic  theologian,  Hefele,  in  the  Kirchen-Lexikon, 
art.  "Albigenses,"  endeavors  to  lessen  the  responsibility  of  the  Pope  and  the  ec- 
clesiastical authorities  for  the  Albigensian  massacres.  But  this  is  possible  only 
to  a  very  limited  extent.  It  was  not  until  frightful  atrocities  had  been  com- 
mitted, that  an  attempt  was  made  to  curb  the  ferocity  which  had  been  excited 
by  the  most  urgent  appeals. 

8  The.  principal  works  which  have  served  to  settle  disputed  points  respecting 


ANTI-SACERDOTAL    SECTS.  57 

Wherever  they  went,  they  kindled  among  the  people  the 
desire  to  read  the  Bible.  The  principal  theatre  of  their 
labors  was  Milan,  and  other  places  in  the  north  of  Italy 
and  the  south  of  France,  where  the  hierarchy  had  a 
weaker  hold  on  the  people,  and  where  many  who  were 
disgusted  with  the  priesthood  were  likewise  repelled  by 
the  obnoxious  theology  of  the  Catharists. 

The  departure  of  the  Franciscans  from  the  rule  of 
poverty  led  the  stricter  party  in  that  order  to  break  off ; 
and  all  efforts  to  heal  the  schism  proved  ineffectual.  The 
Spirituals,  as  the  stricter  sect  were  called,  in  their  zeal 
against  ecclesiastical  corruption  did  not  spare  the  Roman 
Church ;  and  they,  especially  the  lay  brethren  among 
them,  the  Fratricelli,  were  delivered  over  to  the  Inquisi- 
tion. 

At  the  end  of  the  twelfth  century  there  were  formed 
in  the  Netherlands  societies  of  praying  women,  calling 
themselves  Beguines,  who  led  a  life  of  devotion  without 
monastic  vows.  Similar  societies  of  men,  who  were  called 
Beghards,  were  afterwards  formed.  Many  of  both  classes, 
for  the  sake  of  protection,  connected  themselves  with  the 
Tertiaries  of  the  monastic  orders.  Many,  following  the 
rule  of  poverty,  became  mendicants  along  the  Rhine  and, 
perhaps,  through  the  influence  of  the  sect  of  the  Free 
Spirit  —  a  Pantheistic  sect  —  adopted  heretical  opinions  ; 
so  that  the  names  Beguine  and  Beghard,  outside  of  the 
Netherlands,  became  synonymous  with  heretic.  A  swarm 
of  enthusiasts  and  fanatics,  known  by  these  appellations, 
cherished  a  sincere  hostility  to  the  corrupt  administration 
of  the  Church. 

the  Waldenses  are  Dieckhoff,  Die  Waldenser  im  Mittelalter  (1851);  Herzog 
Die  romanischcn  Waldenser  (1853).  Herzog  has  brought  forward  new  infor- 
mation in  his  article  on  the  Waldenses  in  his  Real-Encyclopadie.  The  lately 
discovered  manuscript  of  the  Nobla  Leyczon  renders  it  highly  probable  that 
this  poem  was  composed  in  the  fifteenth  century.  On  the  date  of  the  other 
Waldensian  writings,  and  the  interpolations  which  they  have  suffered,  see  Her- 
zog's  article.  That  the  Waldenses  have  no  existence  prior  to  Waldo  is  con- 
ceded at  present  by  competent  scholars. 


58     SPECIAL    CAUSES   AND    OMENS    OF   THE  REFORMATION. 

The  existence  and  the  number  of  this  species  of  secta- 
ries, whom  the  Inquisition  could  not  extirpate,  and  who, 
it  should  be  observed,  were  mostly  plain  and  unlearned 
people,  prove  that  a  profound  dissatisfaction  with  the 
existing  order  of  things,  and  a  deep  craving,  mingled 
though  it  was  with  ignorance  and  superstition,  for  the 
restoration  of  a  more  simple  and  apostolic  type  of  Chris- 
tianity, had  penetrated  the  lower  orders  of  society.  For- 
merly they  who  were  offended  by  the  wealth  and  worldly 
temper  of  the  clergy,  had  found  relief  by  retreating  to 
the  austerities  of  monastic  life  within  the  Church.  But 
the  monastic  societies,  each  in  its  turn,  as  they  grew 
older,  fell  into  the  luxurious  ways  from  which  their  foun- 
ders had  been  anxious  to  escape.  Now,  as  we  approach 
the  epoch  of  the  Reformation,  we  observe  the  tendency 
of  this  sort  of  disaffection  to  embody  itself  in  sects  which 
assume  a  questionable  or  openly  inimical  attitude  towards 
the  Church.  Yet  it  is  well  that  the  ecclesiastical  revolu- 
tion was  not  left  for  them  to  accomplish,  but  was  reserved 
for  enlightened  and  sober-minded  men,  who  would  know 
how  to  build  up  as  well  as  to  destroy. 

II.  The  Conservative  Reformers,  the  champions  of  the 
liberal,  episcopal,  or  Gallican,  as  contrasted  with  the 
papal  conception  of  the  hierarchy  ;  the  leaders  in  the 
reforming  councils,  both  by  what  these  eminent  men 
achieved  and  by  what  they  failed  to  achieve,  prepared 
the  way  for  the  great  change  from  which  they  themselves 
would  have  recoiled  in  dismay.  In  carrying  forward  their 
battle  they  were  led  to  expose  with  unsparing  severity 
the  errors  and  crimes,  as  well  as  the  enormous  usurpations 
of  authority,  with  which  the  popes  were  chargeable.  This 
could  not  but  essentially  lower  the  respect  of  men  for  the 
papal  office  itself.  At  the  same  time  the  discomfiture  of 
these  reformers,  as  far  as  their  principal  attempt  is  con- 
cerned, to  reform  the  Church  ;w  in  head  and  members,"  a 
discomfiture  effected  by  the  persistency  and  dexterity  of 


RADICAL   REFORMERS.  59 

the  popes  and  their  adherents,  could  not  fail  to  leave  the 
impression  on  many  minds  that  a  more  stringent  remedy 
would  have  to  be  sought  for  the  unbearable  grievances 
under  which  the  Church  labored.  It  must  not  be  for- 
gotten, however,  that  Gerson,D'Ailly,  and  their  compeers, 
were  as  firmly  wedded  to  the  doctrine  of  a  priesthood  in 
the  Church,  and  to  the  traditional  dogmatic  system,  as 
were  their  opponents.  At  Constance,  the  Paris  theo- 
logians almost  outstripped  their  papal  antagonists  in  the 
violent  treatment  of  Huss  during  the  sessions  of  the  Coun- 
cil, and  in  the  alacrity  with  which  they  condemned  him 
and  Jerome  of  Prague  to  the  stake.  It  was  a  reforma- 
tion of  morals,  not  of  doctrine,  at  which  they  aimed  ;  the 
distribution,  but  not  the  destruction  of  priestly  authority. 
III.  But  there  were  individuals  before,  and  long  before 
the  time  of  Luther,  who  are  appropriately  called  radical 
reformers  ;  men  who,  in  essential  points,  anticipated  the 
Protestant  movement.  There  were  conspicuous  efforts 
which,  if  they  proved  to  a  considerable  extent  abortive 
at  the  moment,  left  seed  to  ripen  afterwards,  and  were 
the  harbinger  of  more  effectual  measures.  Of  all  this 
class  of  reformers  before  the  Reformation,  John  Wick- 
liffe  is  the  most  remarkable.1  Living  in  the  midst  of 
the  fourteenth  century,  nearly  a  hundred  and  fifty  years 
before  Luther  ;  not  an  obscure  or  illiterate  man,  but  a 
trained  theologian,  a  Professor  at  Oxford ;  not  hiding 
his  opinions,  but  proclaiming  them  with  boldness ;  he, 
nevertheless,  took  the  position  not  only  of  a  Protestant, 
but,  in  many  important  particulars,  of  a  Puritan.  In  his 
principal  work  he  affirms  that  no  writing,  not  even  a 
papal  decree,  has  any  validity  further  than  it  is  founded 
on  the  Holy  Scriptures ;  he  denies  transubstantiation,  and 

1  Life  and  Sufferings  of  John  Wicklif,  by  J.  Lewis  (Oxford,  1820);  Life  of 
Wichlif  by  Charles  Webb  Le  Bas  (1846);  John  de  Wydiffe,  a  Monograph, 
by  Robert  Vaughan,  D.  D.  (London,  1853);  Weber,  Geschichte  der  akatholis- 
chen  Kirchcn  u.  Serten  von  Gross-Brittanien,  i.  62  seq. ;  Hardwick,  History  of 
the  Christian  Church:  Middle  Age,  p.  402  seq. 


60     SPECIAL    CAUSES   AND   OMENS    OF   THE   REFORMATION. 

attributes  the  origin  of  this  dogma  to  the  substitution  of 
a  belief  in  papal  declarations  for  belief  in  the  Bible ; 
he  asserts  that  in  the  primitive  Church  there  were  but 
two  sorts  of  clergy  ;  doubts  the  Scriptural  warrant  for  the 
rites  of  confirmation  and  extreme  unction  ;  would  have 
all  interference  with  civil  affairs  and  temporal  authority 
interdicted  to  the  clergy ;  speaks  against  the  necessity  of 
auricular  confession ;  avers  that  the  exercise  of  the  power 
to  bind  and  loose  is  of  no  effect,  save  when  it  is  conformed 
to  the  judgment  of  Christ ;  is  opposed  to  the  multiplied 
ranks  of  the  clergy,  popes,  cardinals,  patriarchs,  monks, 
canons,  and  the  rest ;  repudiates  the  doctrine  of  indul- 
gences and  supererogatory  merits,  the  doctrine  of  the 
excellence  of  poverty,  as  that  was  held  and  as  it  lay  at 
the  foundation  of  the  mendicant  orders  ;  and  he  sets  him- 
self against  artificial  church  music,  pictures  in  worship, 
consecration  with  the  use  of  oil  and  salt,  canonization, 
pilgrimages,  church  asylums  for  criminals,  celibacy  of  the 
clergy.1  Almost  every  distinguishing  feature  of  the 
mediaeval  and  papal  church,  as  contrasted  with  the  Prot- 
estant, is  directly  disowned  and  combated  by  Wickliffe. 
How  was  it  possible  that  he  could  do  this  so  long,  in  that 
age,  with  comparative  impunity,  and  die  at  last  in  his 
bed,  when  so  many  whom  he  immeasurably  outstripped 
in  his  reformatory  ideas  paid  for  their  dissent  with  their 
lives  ?  The  reason  is  found  partly  in  the  fact  that  he 
identified  himself  with  the  University  of  Oxford,  and 
with  the  secular  or  parish  clergy  in  their  struggle  against 
the  aspiring  mendicant  orders,  and  still  more  in  the  fact 
that  he  stood  forth  in  the  character  of  a  champion  of  civil 
and  kingly  authority,  against  ecclesiastical  encroachments. 
He  was  protected  by  Edward  III.,  whose  cause  against 
papal  tyranny  he  had  supported;  and  after  Edward's 
death,  by  powerful  nobles.     He  was  strong  enough  to 

1  Large  extracts  from  the  Trialogus  are  in  Gieseler,  in.  iv.  8.  §  125.  n.  1.    An 
analysis  of  it  is  given  in  Turner,  History  of  England,  v. 


RADICAL   REFORMERS.  61 

withstand  the  opposition  to  his  work  of  translating  the 
Bible,  and  publicly  to  defend  the  right  of  the  people  to 
have  the  Scriptures  in  their  own  tongue.  Not  until  the 
reign  of  Henry  V.,  when  the  relation  of  the  kings  to  the 
clergy  was  changed,  was  the  persecution  of  the  Wick- 
liffites,  or  Lollards,  as  they  were  called,  vigorously  under- 
taken. They  were  not  exterminated ;  but  the  principles 
of  Wickliffe  continued  to  have  adherents  in  the  poor  and 
obscure  classes  in  England,  down  to  the  outbreaking  of 
the  Protestant  movement.  It  is  remarkable  that  Wick- 
liffe predicted  that  among  the  monks  themselves  there 
would  arise  persons  who  would  abandon  their  false  inter- 
pretations of  Christianity,  and,  returning  to  the  original 
religion  of  Christ,  would  build  up  the  Church  in  the 
spirit  of  Paul.1 

In  the  same  rank  with  Wickliffe  stands  the  name  of 
John  Huss.2  Before  him  in  Bohemia  there  had  appeared 
Militz  and  Conrad  of  Waldhausen,  preachers  animated 
with  the  fiery  zeal  of  prophets,  and  lifting  up  their 
voices,  in  the  face  of  persecution,  against  the  corruption 
of  religion.3  Still  more  was  Huss  indebted  to  Matthias 
of  Janow,  whose  ideas  respecting  the  Church  and  the 
relations  of  clergy  to  laity  involved  the  germs  of  changes 
more  radical  than  he  himself  perceived.  Huss  Avas 
strongly  influenced,  likewise,  by  the  writings  of  Wick- 

1  The  following  passage  is  from  the  Trialogus :  "  Suppono  autern  quod  aliqui 
fratres,  quos  Deus  docere  dignatur,  ad  religionem  primaevam  Christi  devotius 
convertentur,  et  relicta  sua  perfidia,  sive  obtenta  sive  petita  Antichristi  licentia, 
redibunt  libere  ad  religionem  Christi  primajvam,  et  tunc  aedificabunt  ecclesiam 
sicut  Paulus."     See  Neander,  v.  172. 

2  Historia  et  Monumenta  Jo.  Hus  et  Hieron.  Pragensis  (1715);  Palacky, 
Documenta  Magistri  J.  Hus,  and  the  Geschichte  Bbhmens  by  the  same 
author;  Neander,  Church  History,  v.  235  seq. ;  Gillett,  Life  and  Times  of 
John  Huss  (1871);  the  works  of  Van  der  Hardt  and  Lenfant  upon  the  Coun- 
cil of  Constance;  L.  Krummel,  Geschichte  d.  Bohmisch.  Reformat,  im  XV. 
Jahrh.  (1866);  Wessenburg,  Die  grossen  Kirchenversammlungen  des  XV. 
u.  XVI.  Jahrh.  (vol.  ii.  1840);  Czerwenka,  Gsch.  der  Evang.  Kirch,  in 
Bohmen,  2  vols.  Leipzig,  1869-70. 

3  Neander,  v.  173  seq.;  Jordan,  Vorlduftr  des  Hussitenthums  in  Bohmen 
(Leipzig,  1846). 


62     SPECIAL   CAUSES   AND   OMENS   OF   THE   REFORMATION. 

liffe,  and  was  active  in  disseminating  them.  The  Bo- 
hemian reformer  had  less  theological  acumen  than  the 
English,  with  whom  he  agreed  in  his  advocacy  of  philo- 
sophical realism  and  predestination ;  nor  did  he  go  so  far 
on  the  road  of  doctrinal  innovation  ;  since  Huss,  to  the 
last,  was  a  believer  in  transubstantiation.  But  in  his 
conception  of  the  functions  and  duties  of  the  clergy,  in 
his  zeal  for  practical  holiness,  and  in  his  exaltation  of 
the  Scriptures  above  the  dogmas  and  ordinances  of  the 
Church,  in  moral  excellence  and  heroism  of  character, 
Huss  was  outdone  by  none  of  the  reformers  before  or 
since/-  Luther,  when  he  was  a  monk,  accidentally  fell 
upon  a  volume  of  the  sermons  of  Huss,  in  the  convent 
library  of  Erfurt,  and  was  struck  with  wonder  that 
the  author  of  such  sentiments  as  they  contained  should 
have  been  put  to  death  for  heresy.  In  the  attitude 
which  Huss  assumed  before  the  Council  of  Constance, 
there  was  involved  the  assertion  of  one  of  the  distinctive 
principles  of  Protestantism  —  that  of  the  right  of  private 
judgment.  He  was  commanded  to  retract  his  avowals  of 
opinion,  and  this  he  refused  to  do  until  he  could  be  con- 
vinced by  argument  and  by  citations  from  Scripture  that 
his  opinions  were  erroneous.  That  is,  he  went  behind 
the  authority  of  the  Council.  This  itself,  in  their  eyes, 
amounted  to  flagrant  heresy,  and  was  sufficient  to  con- 
demn him.  It  was  a  repudiation,  on  his  side,  of  the 
principle  of  Church  authority,  which  was  a  vital  part  of 
the  ecclesiastical  system.  The  cruel  execution  of  Huss 
(1415)  and  of  Jerome,  especially  as  the  former  had 
rested  on  the  Emperor's  safe-conduct,  excited  a  storm  of 
wrath  among  their  countrymen  and  adherents.1     Bohe- 

1  That  there  was  no  violation  of  the  safe-conduct  is  assumed  by  Pahieky, 
Gsch.  Bohmens,  and  is  maintained  by  Hefele,  Conciliengeschichte,  vii.  For  a 
review  of  Hefele  and  a  discussion  of  this  point,  see  New  Englander,  April,  1870. 
One  of  the  principal  offenses  of  Huss,  in  the  eyes  of  the  Council  and  of  many 
writers  since,  was  the  doctrine,  imputed  to  him,  that  prelates  and  magistrates, 
aeparated  from  Christ  by  mortal  sin,   really  cease  to  be  invested  with  their 


RADICAL   REFORMERS.  63 

mia  was  long  the  theatre  of  violent  agitation  and  of  civil 
war.  Repeated  crusades  were  undertaken  against  the 
Hussites,  but  resulted  in  the  defeat  of  the  assailants. 
More  pacific  measures,  coupled  with  internal  conflicts 
in  their  own  body,  finally  reduced  their  strength  and 
left  them  a  prey  to  their  persecutors ;  but  the  Bohe- 
mian brethren,  an  offshoot  from  the  more  radical  of  the 
Hussite  parties,  continued  to  exist  in  separation  from 
the  Church  ;  and  in  their  confessions,  drawn  up  at  the 
beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century,  they  reject  transub- 
stantiation,  purgatory,  and  the  worship  of  saints. 

Other  names  exist,  less  renowned  than  those  of  Wick- 
liffe  and  Huss,  but  equally  deserving  to  be  inscribed 
among  the  heralds  of  the  Reformation.  Among  them  is 
John  Wessel,  who  was  connected  at  different  times  with 
the  Universities  of  Cologne,  Louvain,  Paris,  and  Heidel- 
berg, as  a  teacher  of  theology,  and  died  in  1489. *  He 
set  forth  in  explicit  and  emphatic  language  the  doctrine 
of  justification  by  faith  alone.  Against  the  alleged  in- 
fallibility of  bishops  and  pontiffs,  he  avers  that  many  of 
the  greatest  popes  have  fallen  into  pestilent  errors  both 
of  doctrine  and  practice;  giving  as  examples,  Benedict 
XIII.,  Boniface  IX.,  John  XXIII.,  Pius  II.,  and  Sixtus 
IV.  It  has  been  said  that  there  is  scarcely  a  funda- 
mental tenet  of  the  reformers  which  Wessel  did  not  avow. 
Luther,  in  his  preface  to  a  collection  of  several  of  Wes- 

offices.  This  was  thought  to  strike  at  the  foundations  of  all  civil  and  ecclesi- 
astical authority.  But  Huss  explained  to  the  Council  that,  in  his  view,  such 
persons  are  still  to  he  recognized  quoad  officium,  though  not  quoad  meritum. 
They  are  destitute  of  the  ethical  character  that  forms  the  moral  essence  of  the 
office,  though  still  exercising  its  functions.  See,  on  this  important  question, 
Palacky,  in.  i.  353;  Krummel,  p.  5l!t;  Wessenburg,  ii.  171;  also,  Hefele,  Con- 
cilie7igeschichte,  VII.  i.  163.  To  Wickliffe  were  imputed  similar  opinion?. 
Only  those  in  a  state  of  grace,  he  held,  can  possess  property;  others  may 
occupy  but  not  have. —  Gieseler,  iii.,  iv.  c.  viii.  §  125,  n.  18;  Schiickh, 
Kivcliengescliiclite,  xxxiv.  536. 

1  The  career  of  Wessel  and  his  principles  are  fully  described  by  Ullmann, 
vol.  ii.  pp.  287-642.  For  the  reformatory  opinions  of  John  of  Goch  and 
John  of  Wesel,  see  Ullmann,  and  Gieseler,  m.  v.  5,  §  153. 


64     SPECIAL   CAUSES   AND    OMENS   OF   THE   REFORMATION. 

sel's  treatises,  declares  him  to  have  been  a  man  of  admi- 
rable genius,  a  rare  and  great  soul,  and  so  far  in  accord 
with  him  as  to  doctrine,  that  if  he  had  read  sooner  the 
works  of  Wessel,  it  might  have  been  plausibly  said  by  his 
enemies  that  he  had  borrowed  everything  from  them. 

A  man  whose  doctrinal  position  was  far  less  diverse 
from  the  current  system,  but  who  must  be  ranked  among 
the  noted  precursors  of  the  Reformation,  is  Savonarola.1 
From  1489  to  his  death  in  1498,  he  lived  at  Florence, 
and  for  a  while,  by  the  force  of  his  intellectual  and 
moral  character,  and  by  his  commanding  eloquence,  ex- 
erted a  ruling  influence  in  the  affairs  of  the  city.  He 
was  largely  instrumental  in  the  expulsion  of  the  house 
of  Medici  from  Florence.  Against  their  tyranny  and 
the  immoralities  which  they  fostered  he  directed  from 
the  pulpit  his  sharp  invectives.  On  the  invasion  of 
the  French  under  Charles  VIII.,  which  Savonarola  had 
predicted,  he  was  able,  through  the  personal  respect, 
amounting  to  awe,  with  which  he  inspired  the  king,  to 
render  important  services  to  Florence.  His  position 
there  resembled  that  which  Calvin  long  maintained  at 

1  The  two  principal  German  biographies  of  Savonarola  are  by  Rudelbach 
(Hamburg,  1835),  and  Meier  (Berlin,  1836),  the  former  of  which  treats  prin- 
cipally of  Savonarola's  doctrine,  the  latter  of  the  events  of  his  career.  From 
the  French  we  have  Jerome  Savonarola,  sa  Vie,  ses  Predications,  ses  Ecrits,  par 
F.  T.  Perrens  (Paris,  1853).  An  extremely  valuable  life  of  Savonarola  is  that 
by  Villari — La  Storia  de  Girolamo  Savonarola  e  de1  suoi  tempi,  narrata  da 
Pasquale  Villari  con  I'aiuto  di  nuovi  documenti  (Firenze,  1859).  Villari,  in 
his  Prefazione,  criticizes  the  previous  biographers,  including  the  English  work 
by  Madden.  He  considers  that  Rudelbach  and  others  have  exaggerated  the 
Protestant  tendencies  of  the  great  Dominican;  that  he  adhered  substantially 
to  the  dogmatic  system  of  the  Church,  though  hostile  to  papal  absolutism. 
Villari  vindicates  him  against,  the  common  imputation  of  a  demagogical  tem- 
per and  exhibits  him  as  a  thorough  patriot.  He  also  shows  that  Savonarola's 
vacillation  under  torture  was  only  in  reference  to  the  source  of  his  prophecies, 
whether  natural  or  supernatural ;  a  point  on  which  he  had  cherished  no  uniform 
conviction.  An  instructive  and  brilliant  article  by  Mibnan  (written  prior  to 
the  publication  of  Villari's  Life)  appeared  in  the  Quarterly  Review  (1859).  It 
is  found  in  Milman's  Essays  (London,  1870).  Romola,  by  George  Eliot  (Mrs. 
Lewes),  one  of  the  most  remarkable  novels  of  the  present  day,  presents  a 
6triking  picture  of  Savonarola  and  of  Florentine  life  in  bis  time. 


THE    MYSTICS.  65 

Geneva.  A  Dominican,  stimulated  to  stricter  asceticism 
by  the  demoralized  condition  of  the  Church  and  of  so- 
ciety, he  poured  out  his  rebukes  without  stint,  until  the 
political  and  religious  elements  that  were  combined 
against  him,  effected  his  destruction.1  Pie  had  pro- 
nounced the  excommunication,  which  was  issued  against 
him  by  the  flagitious  Alexander  VI.,  void,  had  declared 
that  it  was  from  the  devil,  and  he  had  continued  to 
preach  against  the  papal  prohibition.  In  prison  he  com- 
posed a  tract  upon  the  fifty-first  psalm,  in  which  he 
comes  so  near  the  Protestant  views  of  justification,  that 
Luther  published  it  with  a  laudatory  preface.  Savona- 
rola did  not  despair  of  the  cause  for  which  he  laid  down 
his  life,  but  predicted  a  coming  Reformation. 

IV.  We  turn  now  to  another  class  of  men  who  power- 
fully, though  indirectly,  paved  the  way  for  the  Protes- 
tant Revolution —  the  Mystics.2 

Mysticism  had  developed  itself  all  through  the  scholas- 
tic period,  in  individuals  of  profound  religious  feeling,  to 
whom  the  exclusively  dialectical  tendency  was  repugnant. 
Such  men  were  St.  Bernard,  Bonaventura,  and  the  school 
of  St.  Victor.  Anselm  himself,  the  father  of  the  school- 
men, mingled  with  his  logical  habit  a  mystical  vein,  and 
this  combination  was  in  fact  characteristic  of  the  best  of 
the  scholastic  theologians.  But  with  the  decline  of 
scholasticism,  partly  as  a  cause  and  partly  as  an  effect, 
mysticism  assumed  a  more  distinct  shape.  The  charac- 
teristic of  the  mystics  is  the  life  of  feeling ;  the  prefer- 
ence of  intuition  to  logic,  the  quest  for  knowledge 
through  light  imparted  to  feeling  rather  than  by    pro- 

1  For  an  example  of  his  denunciation  of  the  venality  and  other  sins  of  the 
clergy,  see  Villari,  ii.  80:  "  Vendono  i  benefizi,  vendono  i  sacranienti,  ven- 
dono  le  messe  dei  matrimonii,  vondono  ogni  cosa,"  etc. 

2  Upon  the  Mystics,  besides  Ullmann's  work,  Die  Reformatoren  vopder  /?■  - 
formation,  and  Neander,  v.  380  seq.,  see  C.  Schmidt,  Etudes  sur  le  Mysticism* 

Allemandau  XIV.  «ecfe(1847);  Helfferich,  Die  ehristl.  Mystik  (1842);  Noaqfc, 
Gsch.  d.  Mystik  (1853);  R.  A.  Vaughan,  Hours  with  the  Mystics  (1856). 
5 


66     SPECIAL   CAUSES   AND   OMENS   OF   THE   REFORMATION. 

cesses  of  the  intellect ;  the  indwelling  of  God  in  the 
soul,  elevated  to  a  holy  calm  by  the  consciousness  of  His 
presence ;  absolute  self-renunciation  and  the  absorption 
of  the  human  will  into  the  divine ;  the  ecstatic  mood. 
The  theory  of  the  mystic  may  easily  slide  into  panthe- 
ism, where  the  union  of  the  human  spirit  with  the  divine 
is  resolved  into  the  identification  of  the  two.1  This  ten- 
dency is  perceptible  in  one  class  of  the  ante-Protestant 
mystics,  of  which  Master  Eckart  is  a  prominent  repre- 
sentative. He  was  Provincial  of  the  Dominicans  for 
Saxony ;  the  scene  of  his  labors  was  in  the  neighborhood 
of  the  Rhine,  and  he  died  about  1329.  Affiliated  so- 
cieties calling  themselves  the  Friends  of  God,  although 
they  formed  no  sect,  grew  up  in  the  south  and  west  of 
Germany  and  in  the  Netherlands.  They  made  religion 
centre  in  a  calm  devoutness,  in  disinterested  love  to  God 
and  in  labors  of  benevolence.  It  was  in  Cologne,  Stras- 
burg,  and  in  other  places  in  the  neighborhood  of  the 
Rhine,  that  the  preachers  of  this  class  chiefly  flourished. 
Of  them  the  most  eminent  is  John  Tauler  (1290-1361), 
Doctor  sublimis  et  illuminatus,  as  he  was  styled,  a 
pupil  of  Eckart,  but  an  opposer  of  pantheism  and  a 
preacher  of  evangelical  fervor.2  To  him  Luther  errone- 
ously ascribed  the  little  book  which  emanated  from  some 
member  of  this  mystical  school,  called  "  The  German 
Theology,"  a  book  which  Luther  published  anew  in  1516, 
and  from  which  he  said  that,  next  to  the  Bible  and  St. 
Augustine,  he  had  learned  more  than  from  any  other 
book  of  what  God,  Christ,  man,  and  all  things  are.  The 
mystics  were  eagerly  heard  by  thousands  who  yearned 

1  On  the  nature  of  mysticism,  see  Ritter,  Gsch.  d.  christl.  Philosophic,  iv.  626 
seq.  Kilter  explains  especially  the  ideas  of  Gerson.  See  also,  Hase,  Hutterus 
Redivivus. 

2  C.  Schmidt,  Johannes  Tauler  von  Strasbnrg  (1841);  Life  of  Tauler,  with 
Twenty-five  of  his  Sermons,  translated  from  the  German  by  Susanna  Wink- 
worth,  to  which  are  added  a  preface  by  Rev.  C.  Kingsley,  and  an  introduction 
by  Rev.  R.  D.  Hitchcock,  1).  D.  (New"  York,  1858). 


THE   REVIVAL   OF  LEARNING.  67 

for  a  more  vital  kind  of  religion  than  the  Church  had 
afforded  them.  The  "  Imitation  of  Christ,"  by  Thomas 
a  Kempis,  a  work  which  has  probably  had  a  larger  circu- 
lation than  any  other  except  the  Bible,  is  a  fine  example 
of  the  characteristic  spirit  of  the  mystical  school.1  The 
reformatory  effect  of  the  mystics  was  twofold :  they 
weakened  the  influence  of  the  scholastic  system  and 
called  men  away  from  a  dogmatic  religion  to  something 
more  inward  and  spiritual ;  and  their  labors,  likewise, 
tended  to  break  up  the  excessive  esteem  of  outward 
sacraments  and  ceremonies.  Standing  within  the  Church 
and  making  no  quarrel  with  it,  they  were  thus  preparing 
the  ground,  especially  in  Germany,  through  the  whole  of 
the  fourteenth  century,  for  the  Protestant  reform.  With 
these  pioneers  of  reform,  and  not  with  men  like  Huss  and 
Wickliffe,  the  religious  training  of  Luther  and  his  great 
movement  have  a  direct  historical  connection. 

V.  An  event  of  signal  importance,  as  an  indispensable 
prerequisite  and  means  of  a  reformation  in  religion,  was 
the  revival  of  learning.  This  great  intellectual  change 
emanated  from  Italy  as  its  fountain.  During  the  Middle 
Ages,  in  the  midst  of  prevailing  darkness  and  disorder, 
Italy  never  wholly  lost  the  traces  of  ancient  civilization. 
"  The  night  which  descended  upon  her  was  the  night  of 
an  Arctic  summer.  The  dawn  began  to  re-appear  before 
the  last  reflection  of  the  preceding  sunset  had  faded  from 
the  horizon."2  The  three  great  writers,  Dante,  Pe- 
trarch, and  Boccaccio,  introduced  a  new  era  of  culture. 
To  the  long  neglect  which  the  classic  authors  had 
suffered,  Dante  refers,  when  he  says  of  Virgil  that  he 

"  Seemed  from  long  continued  silence  hoarse."  3 

The  mind  of  Italy  more  and  more  turned  back  upon  its 

1  Upon  the  authorship  of  this  work,  see  Gieseler,  in.  v.  4.  §  146;  Ullmann, 
'i.  711  scq. ;  Schmidt  in  Herzog's  ReaUEncycl. 

2  Macaulay,  Essiy  on  MacckiaveUi.     Essays,  i.  (New  York,  1861). 

3  Inf.,  i.  63.     "  (hi  per  lungo  silenzio  parea  fioco." 


68      SPECIAL    CAUSES   AND    OMENS    OF   THE   REFORMATION. 

ancient  history  and  literature.  The  study  of  the  Roman 
classics  became  a  passion.  No  pains  and  no  expense  were 
spared  in  recovering  manuscripts  and  in  collecting  libra- 
ries. Princes  became  the  personal  cultivators  and  pro- 
fuse patrons  of  learning.  The  same  zeal  extended  itself 
to  Greek  literature.  The  philosophers  and  poets  of  an- 
tiquity were  once  more  read  with  delight  in  their  own 
tongues.  The  capture  of  Constantinople  by  the  Turks, 
in  1453,  brought  a  throng  of  Greek  scholars,  with  their 
invaluable  literary  treasures,  to  Italy,  and  gave  a  fresh 
impulse  to  the  new  studies.  From  Italy,  the  same 
literary  spirit  spread  over  the  other  countries  of  Europe. 
The  humanities  —  grammar,  rhetoric,  poetry,  eloquence, 
the  classical  authors  —  attracted  the  attention  of  the 
studious  everywhere. 

"  Other  futures  stir  the  world's  great  heart, 
Europe  is  come  to  her  majority, 
And  enters  on  the  vast  inheritance 
Won  from  the  tombs  of  mighty  ancestors, 
The  seeds,  the  gold,  the  gems,  the  silent  harps 
That  lay  deep  buried  with  the  memories  of  old  renown." 


"  For  now  the  old  epic  voices  ring  again, 
And  vibrate  with  the  heat  and  melody, 
Stirred  by  the  warmth  of  old  Ionian  days. 
The  martyred  sage,  the  attic  orator, 
Immutably  incarnate,  like  the  gods, 
In  spiritual  bodies,  winged  words, 
Holding  a  universe  impalpable, 
Find  a  new  audience."  x 

This  movement  brought  with  it  momentous  conse- 
quences in  the  field  of  religion.  It  marked  the  advent  of 
a  new  stage  of  culture,  when  the  Church  was  no  longer 
to  be  the  sole  instructor  ;  when  a  wider  horizon  was  to 
be  opened  to  the  human  intellect  —  an  effect  analogous 
to  that  soon  to  be  produced  by  the  grand  geographical 
discovery  of  a  new  hemisphere.  Christianity  was  to  come 
into  contact  with  the  products  of  the  intellect  of  the  an- 

1  George  Eliot's  Spanish  Gypsy,  pp.  5,  6. 


THE   DOWNFALL   OF   SCHOLASTICISM.  b^ 

cient  nations,  and  to  assimilate  whatever  might  not  be 
alien  to  its  own  nature. 

For  several  hundred  years  the  Scholastic  philosophy  and 
theology  had  reigned  with  an  almost  undisputed  sway. 
When  the  Schoolmen  arose  with  their  methods  of  logical 
analysis  and  disputation,  the  old  compilations  or  books  of 
excerpts  from  the  Fathers,  out  of  which  theology,  for  a 
number  of  centuries,  had  been  studied,  quickly  became 
obsolete,  and  the  adherents  of  the  former  method  were 
utterly  eclipsed  by  the  attractiveness  of  the  new  science. 
Young  men  by  thousands  flocked  after  the  new  teachers. 
From  about  the  middle  of  the  eleventh  century  Scholasti- 
cism had  been  dominant.  Nor  was  this  era  without  fruit. 
As  a  discipline  for  the  intellect  of  semi-civilized  peoples  ; 
as  a  counterpoise  to  the  tendencies  to  enthusiasm  and 
superstition  which  were  rife  in  the  Middle  Ages  ;  as  a 
means  of  reducing  to  a  regular  and  tangible  form  the 
creed  of  the  Church,  so  that  it  could  be  examined  and 
judged,  the  scholastic  training  and  the  intellectual  prod- 
ucts of  it  were  of  high  value.1  But  the  narrowness  and 
other  gross  defects  of  the  scholastic  culture  were  laid 
bare  by  the  incoming  of  the  new  studies.  The  barbarous 
style  and  the  whole  method  of  the  Schoolmen  became 
obnoxious  and  ridiculous  in  the  eyes  of  the  devotees  of 
classical  learning.  The  extravagant  hair-splitting  of 
Scotus  and  Durandus,  when  compared  with  the  nobler 
method  of  the  philosophers  of  antiquity,  excited  disdain. 
The  works  of  Aristotle,  which  were  now  possessed  in 
their  own  language,  exposed  blunders  in  the  translation 
and  interpretation  of  him,  which  brought  disgrace  upon 
the  Schoolmen.  Their  ignorance  of  history,  their  uncriti- 
cal habit,  their  overdrawn  subtlety  and  endless  wrang- 
ling, made  them  objects  of  derision ;  and  as  the  School- 
men had  once  supplanted  the  Compilers,  so  now  the  race 
of  syllogistic  reasoners  were,  in  their  turn,  laughed  off  the 
stage  by  the  new  generation  of  classical  scholars. 

1  Gieseler,  Dogmengesckichte,  p.  472  seq. 


70     SPECIAL   CAUSES   AND   OMENS   OF   THE  REFORMATION. 

But  the  fall  of  Scholasticism  did  not  take  place  until  it 
had  run  its  course  and  lost  its  vitality.  The  essential 
principle  of  the  Schoolmen  was  the  correspondence  of 
faith  and  reason  ;  the  characteristic  aim  was  the  vindica- 
tion of  the  contents  of  faith,  the  articles  of  the  creed, 
on  grounds  of  reason.  This  continued  to  be  the  charac- 
ter of  Scholasticism,  although  the  successors  of  Anselm 
did  not,  like  him,  aspire  to  establish  the  positive  truths  of 
Christianity  by  arguments  independent  of  revelation. 
"  Fides  qua^rit  intellectum  "  was  ever  the  motto.  There 
were  individuals,  as  Abelard  in  the  twelfth  century,  and 
Roger  Bacon  in  the  thirteenth,  who  seem  restive  under 
the  yoke  of  authority,  but  who  really  differ  from  their 
contemporaries  rather  in  the  tone  of  their  mind  than  in 
their  theological  tenets.  Scholasticism,  when  it  gave  up 
the  attempt  to  verify  to  the  intelligence  what  faith  re- 
ceived on  the  authority  of  the  Church,  confessed  its  own 
failure.  This  transition  was  made  by  Duns  Scotus.  It 
was  Occam,  the  pupil  of  Scotus,  by  whom  the  change  was 
consummated.  He  was  the  leading  agent  in  reviving 
Nominalism.  Although  both  Wickliffe  and  Huss  were 
Realists,  it  was  Nominalism  that  brought  Scholasticism  to 
an  end.  In  giving  only  a  subjective  validity  to  general 
notions  and  to  reasonings  founded  on  them,  in  seeking  to 
show  that  no  settled  conclusions  can  be  reached  on  the 
path  of  rational  inquiry  and  argument,  and  in  leaving  no 
other  warrant  for  Church  dogmas  except  that  of  authority, 
a  foundation  was  laid  for  scepticism.  The  way  was  paved 
for  the  "principle  which  found  a  distinct  expression  in  the 
fifteenth  century,  that  a  thing  may  be  true  in  theology 
and  false  in  philosophy.  Occam  was  a  sturdy  opponent 
of  the  temporal  power  of  the  popes,  a  defender  of  the  in- 
dependence of  the  civil  authority  as  related  to  them. 
When  he  suggests  propositions  at  variance  with  ortho- 
doxy and  argues  for  them,  he  saves  himself  from  the 
imputation  of  heresy  by  professing  an  absolute  submission 


THE   MULTIPLICATION    OF   BOOKS.  71 

to  authority  ;  but  it  is  difficult  to  believe  these  profes- 
sions perfectly  sincere.  Nominalism  necessarily  tended  to 
encourage,  also,  an  empirical  method,  an  attention  to  the 
facts  of  nature  and  of  inner  experience,  in  the  room  of  the 
logical  fabric  which  had  been  subverted.  The  scholastic 
philosophy,  when  it  came  to  affirm  the  dissonance  of 
reason  and  the  creed,  dug  its  own  grave.  It  may  be 
mentioned  here  that  Luther  in  his  youth  was  a  diligent 
student  of  Occam.  From  Occam  he  derived  defenses,  as 
to  another  Nominalist,  D'Ailly,  he  owed  the  suggestion, 
of  his  doctrine  of  the  Lord's  Supper.2 

But  other  effects  of  a  more  positive  character  than  the 
downfall  of  Scholasticism  flowed  from  the  renovation  of 
learning.  The  Fathers  were  brought  out  of  their  ob- 
scurity, and  their  teachings  might  be  compared  with  the 
dogmatic  system  which  professed  to  be  founded  upon 
them,  but  which  had  really,  in  its  passage  through  the 
mediaeval  period,  taken  on  features  wholly  unknown  to 
the  patristic  age.  More  than  this,  the  Scriptures  of  the 
Old  and  New  Testament,  the  primitive  documents  of  the 
Christian  religion,  were  brought  forward  in  the  original 
tongues,  to  serve  as  a  touchstone  by  which  the  prevailing 
doctrinal  and  ecclesiastical  system  must  be  tested.  The 
newly  invented  art  of  printing,  an  art  which  almost  im- 
mediately attained  a  high  degree  of  perfection,  in  connec- 
tion with  the  hardly  less  important  manufacture  of  paper 
from  linen,  stimulated,  at  the  same  time  that  it  fed,  the 
appetite  for  literature.  It  is  evident  that  the  freshly 
awakened  thirst  for  knowledge,  with  the  abundant  means 
for  gratifying  it,  must  produce  a  wide-spread  ferment.    A 

1  On  Occam,  see  Baur,  Dogmengeschichte,  ii.  236  seq.;  Dorner,  Entwicke- 
lungsgsch,  von  der  Person  Christi,  ii.  447  seq.;  Hitter,  Gsch.  d.  christl.  Phil.,  iv. 
574  seq. ;  Haureau,  De  la  Phil.  Scholastique,  t.  ii. ;  Herzog,  Real-Enc.  d.  Theol. 
art.  "  Occam  "  and  "  Schol.  Phil." 

2  Rettberg,  Occam  und  Luther,  Studien  u.  Kritiken,  1831,  1.  Dorner,  ii.  607. 
11  Diu  multumque  legit  scripta  Occam.  Hujus  acumen  anteferebat  Thomas  et 
Scoto."     Melancthon,  Vita  Lutheri,  v. 


72      SPECIAL   CAUSES   AND   OMENS   OF   THE   REFORMATION. 

movement  had  begun,  in  the  presence  of  which  Latin 
Christianity,  that  vast  fabric  of  piety  and  superstition,  of 
reason  and  imagination,  would  not  be  left  undisturbed. 

From  the  beginning  of  the  humanistic  revival,  it  as- 
sumed, north  of  the  Alps,  especially  in  Germany,  charac- 
teristics different  from  those  which  pertained  to  it  in  Italy. 
In  Italy  the  Humanists  were  so  smitten  with  antiquity, 
so  captivated  with  ancient  thought,  as  to  look  with  indif- 
ference and,  very  frequently,  with  a  secret  scepticism, 
upon  Christianity  and  the  Church.1  Even  an  Epicurean 
infidelity  as  to  the  foundations  of  religion,  which  was 
caught  from  Lucretius  and  from  the  dialogues  of  Cicero, 
infected  a  wide  circle  of  literary  men.  Preachers,  in  a 
strain  of  florid  rhetoric  would  associate  the  names  of 
Greek  and  Roman  heroes  with  those  of  apostles  and  saints, 
and  with  the  name  of  the  Saviour  himself.  If  an  example 
of  distinguished  piety  was  required,  reference  would  be 
made  to  Numa  Pompilius.  So  prevalent  was  disbelief 
respecting  the  fundamental  truths  of  natural  religion  that 
the  Council  of  the  Lateran,  under  Leo  X.,  felt  called  upon 
to  affirm  the  immortality  and  individuality  of  the  soul. 
The  revival  of  literature  in  Italy  was  thus,  to  a  consider- 
able degree,  the  revival  of  paganism.  When  we  look  at 
the  poets  and  rhetoricians,  we  should  suppose  that  the 
gods  of  the  old  mythology  had  risen  from  the  dead,  while 
in  the  minds  of  thinking  men  Plato  and  Plotinus  had  sup- 
planted Paul  and  Isaiah.  If  in  the  Florentine  school  of 
Platonists,  under  the  lead  of  Marsilius  Ficinus,  a  more 
believing  temper  prevailed,  yet  these  mingled  freely  with 
Christian  tenets  fancies  borrowed  from  the  favorite  phi- 
losophy. It  is  not  meant  that  religion  was  driven  out  by 
humanism.  The  spirit  of  religion  had  vanished  to  a  great 
extent  before,  and  Humanism  took  possession  of  vacant 
ground.  Under  the  influence  of  the  classic  school,  sa}Ts 
Guizot,  the  Church  in  Italy  "  gave  herself  up  to  all  the 
1  Voigt,  Die  Wiederbelebung  </.  clcusischen  Alterthumz,  p.  475  scq. 


THE   LITERATI   OF   THE    FIFTEENTH   CENTURY.  73 

pleasures  of  an  indolent,  elegant,  licentious  civilization  ; 
to  a  taste  for  letters,  the  arts,  and  social  and  physical 
enjoyments.  Look  at  the  way  in  which  the  men  who 
played  the  greatest  political  and  literary  parts  at  that 
period  passed  their  lives  —  Cardinal  Bembo,  for  example, 
—  and  you  will  be  surprised  by  the  mixture  which  it  ex- 
hibits of  luxurious  effeminacy  and  intellectual  culture, 
of  enervated  manners  and  mental  vigor.  In  surveying 
this  period,  indeed,  when  we  look  at  the  state  of  opinions 
and  of  social  relations,  we  might  imagine  ourselves  living 
among  the  French  of  the  eighteenth  century.  There  was 
the  same  desire  for  the  progress  of  intelligence,  and  for 
the  acquirement  of  new  ideas  ;  the  same  taste  for  an 
agreeable  and  easy  life,  the  same  luxury,  the  same  licen- 
tiousness ;  there  was  the  same  want  of  political  energy 
and  of  moral  principles,  combined  with  singular  sincerity 
and  activity  of  mind.  The  literati  of  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury stood  in  the  same  relation  to  the  prelates  of  the 
Church  as  the  men  of  letters  and  philosophers  of  the 
eighteenth  did  to  the  nobility.  They  had  the  same 
opinions  and  manners,  lived  agreeably  together,  and  gave 
themselves  no  uneasiness  about  the  storms  that  were 
brewing  round  them.  The  prelates  of  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury, and  Cardinal  Bembo  among  the  rest,  no  more  fore- 
saw Luther  and  Calvin  than  the  courtiers  of  Louis  XIV. 
foresaw  the  French  Revolution.  The  analogy  between 
the  two  cases  is  striking  and  instructive."  l 

The  semi-pagan  spirit  was  not  confined  to  elegant  lit- 
erature. It  entered  the  sphere  of  politics  and  practical 
morals,  and  in  this  department  found  a  systematic  ex- 
pression in  "  The  Prince  "  of  Macchiavelli.  This  work, 
which  was  intended  neither  as  a  satire,  nor  as  an  expo- 
sure of  king-craft  for  the  warning  of  the  people,  but  as  a 
serious  code  of  political  maxims,  sets  at  defiance  the  prin- 
ciples of  Christian  morality.     The  only  apology  that  can 

1  Guizot,  Hist,  of  Civilization,  lect.  xi. 


74   SPECIAL  CAUSES  AND  OMENS  OF  THE  REFORMATION. 

be  made  for  it  is  that  it  simply  reflects  the  actual  prac- 
tice of  that  age,  the  habitual  conduct  of  rulers,  in  which 
treachery  and  dissimulation  were  accounted  a  merit.1 
Macchiavelli  was  a  patriot,  he  was  at  heart  a  republican, 
but  he  seems  to  have  concluded  that  Italy  had  no  hope 
save  in  a  despot,  and  that  all  means  are  justifiable  which 
are  requisite  or  advantageous  for  securing  an  end.  Yet 
he  was  supported  and  held  in  esteem  by  Leo  X.  and 
Clement  VII.,  and  inscribed  his  flagitious  treatise  to 
young  Lorenzo  de  Medici.  The  political  condition  of  Italy 
favored  the  growth  of  a  public  opinion,  in  which  the  vices 
recommended  in  "  The  Prince  "  were  looked  upon  not  only 
without  disapprobation,  but  as  commendable  qualities  in 
a  statesman.2 

In  Germany,  on  the  contrary,  from  the  outset,  the  new 
learning  was  cultivated  in  a  religious  spirit.  It  kindled 
the  desire  to  examine  the  writings  of  the  Fathers  and  to 
study  earnestly  the  Scriptures.  Reuchlin,  the  recognized 
leader  of  the  German  Humanists,  considered  that  his 
greatest  work,  his  most  durable  monument,  was  his 
Hebrew  Grammar.  His  battle  with  the  monks  is  a  de- 
cisive event  in  the  combat  of  the  new  era  with  the  old. 
Reuchlin  had  studied  Greek  at  Paris  and  Basel ;  he  had 
lectured  in  various  schools  and  universities  ;  had  been  em- 
ployed in  important  offices  by  princes  ;  had  visited  Rome 
on  official  business ;  at  Florence  had  mingled  with  Poli- 
tian,  Pico  de  Mirandola,  Marsilius  Ficinus  ;  had  devoted 
himself  enthusiastically  to  the  study  of  Hebrew,  not  only 
as  the  language  of  the  Scriptures,  but  also  because  he 
supposed  himself  to  find  in  the  Kabbala  corroboration  and 
illustration  of  Christian  doctrines.  He  was  everywhere 
famous  as  a  scholar.  The  Dominicans  of  Cologne,  with 
Hoogstraten,   a  converted  Jew,  at  their  head,  vexed  at 

1  See  the  remarks  of  Wheaton,  Elements  of  International  Law,  i.  pp.  18,  19. 
a  See  Macaulay's  Essay,  Macchiavelli. 


THE   HUMANISTS.  75 

Reuchlin's  refusal  to  support  them  in  their  project  for 
destroying  Judaism  by  burning  all  the  Hebrew  literature 
except  the  Old  Testament  —  a  project  to  which  they  had 
been  incited  by  Pfefferkorn,  a  converted  Jew — put  forth 
a  resolute  and  malignant  effort  to  get  him  convicted  of 
heresy  or  force  him  to  retract  his  published  opinions. 
Finding  that  soft  words  and  reasonable  concessions  were 
unavailing,  he  took  up  the  contest  in  right  earnest,  and, 
being  supported  by  the  whole  Humanist  party,  which 
rallied  in  defense  of  their  chief,  he  at  length  succeeded, 
though  not  without  passing  through  much  anxiety  and 
peril,  in  achieving  a  victory.  By  it  the  scale  was  turned 
against  the  adversaries  of  literature.  The  scholars  van- 
quished the  monks.  In  this  conflict  Reuchlin  was  effi- 
ciently aided  by  Francis  of  Sickingen  and  Ulrich  von 
Hutten,  both  of  them  quite  disposed,  if  it  was  necessary, 
to  make  use  of  carnal  weapons  against  the  hostile  ecclesi- 
astics. It  was  the  alliance  of  the  knights  with  the  pio- 
neers of  learning.  The  Epistolce  obscurorum  virorum, 
composed  by  Hutten  and  others,  are  a  scornful  satire  upon 
the  ignorance,  bigotry,  and  intolerance  of  Hoogstraten  and 
the  monks.1  The  applause  that  greeted  the  appearance 
of  these  letters,  in  which  the  monks  are  held  up  to  merci- 
less ridicule,  was  a  significant  sign  of  the  progress  of  in- 
telligence (1516). 

The  Humanists  were  slow  in  gaining  a  foothold  in  the 
universities.  These  establishments  in  Germany  had  been 
founded  on  the  model  of  Paris.  Theology  had  the  upper- 
most seat,  and  the  Scholastic  philosophy  was  enthroned  in 
the  chairs  of  instruction.  In  particular,  Paris  and  Cologne 
were  the  strongholds  of  the  traditional  theology.  The 
Humanists  at  length  gained  admission  for  their  studies  at 
Heidelberg,  Tubingen,  and  some  other  places.  In  1502, 
the  Elector  Frederic  of  Saxony  organized  a  university  at 

1  On  this  work  see  Baur,  Kirchengeschichte,  iv.  17,  and  Sir  William  Hamil- 
ton, Discussions,  etc.  (1853). 


76      SPECIAL   CAUSES   AND   OMENS   OF   THE   REFORMATION. 

Wittenberg.  This  new  institution,  which  declared  Au- 
gustine to  be  its  patron  saint,  was  from  the  first;  favorable 
to  Biblical  studies,  and  gave  a  hospitable  reception  to  the 
teachers  of  classical  learning.1  Here  was  to  be  the  hearth- 
stone of  the  Reformation. 

In  other  countries  the  cause  of  learning  was  advancing, 
and  brought  with  it  increased  liberality,  and  tendencies 
to  reform  in  religion.  In  1498,  Colet,  the  son  of  a 
wealthy  London  merchant  who  had  been  Lord  Mayor  of 
the  city,  had  returned  from  his  studies  in  Italy,  and  was 
expounding  the  Greek  epistles  of  Paul  at  Oxford,  to  the 
delight  of  all  who  aspired  after  the  "  new  learning,"  and 
the  disgust  and  alarm  of  the  devotees  of  the  Scholastic 
theology.  He  was  joined  by  Erasmus,  then  thirty  years 
of  age,  of  the  same  age  as  Colet,  and  not  yet  risen  to  fame, 
but  full  of  ardor  in  the  pursuit  of  knowledge,  and  glad  to 
enter  into  the  closest  bonds  of  friendship  and  fellowship 
with  the  more  devout,  if  less  brilliant  and  versatile,  Eng- 
lish scholar.  To  them  was  united  a  young  man,  Thomas 
More,  who  was  destined  to  the  law,  but  whose  love  of 
knowledge  and  sympathy  with  the  advancing  spirit  of  the 
age,  brought  him  into  intimate  relations  with  the  two 
scholars  just  named.2  Colet,  More,  and  Erasmus  contin- 
ued to  be  friends  and  fellow-laborers  in  a  common  cause 
to  the  end.  Colet  became  Dean  of  St.  Paul's,  founded  St. 
Paul's  school  at  his  own  expense,  and  boldly,  yet  with 
gentleness,  exerted  his  influence,  not  only  in  favor  of  clas- 
sical and  Biblical  study,  but  also,  not  without  peril  to 
himself,  against  superstition  and  in  behalf  of  enlightened 
views  in  religion.  More  followed  the  same  path,  and  in 
his  "  Utopia  "  he  has  a  chapter  on  the  religions  of  that 
imaginary  commonwealth,  in  which  he  represents  that  the 

1  Von  Raumer,  Gcschichte  <hr  Pcedogogik,  iv.  34. 

2  At  Oxford,  as  at  Paris  and  elsewhere,  the  adversaries  of  the  "  new  learn- 
ing ''  united  in  a  hostility  to  the  study  of  Creek.  It  reminds  one  of  the  an- 
tipathy to  the  same  study  which  existed  among  the  conservative  Romans  when 
Cicero  was  a  youth.     Forsyth,  Life  of  Cicero,  i.  20. 


COLET,   MOKE,    AND   ERASMUS.  77 

people  were  debating  among  themselves  "  whether  one 
that  were  chosen  by  them  to  be  a  priest,  would  not  be 
thereby  qualified  to  do  all  the  tilings  that  belong  to  that 
character,  even  though  he  had  no  authority  derived  from 
the  Pope."  It  was  one  of  the  ancient  laws  of  the  Utopians 
that  no  one  should  be  punished  for  his  religion,  but  con- 
verts were  to  be  made  to  any  faith  only  "  by  amicable  and 
modest  ways,  without  the  use  of  reproaches  or  violence." 
They  made  confession,  not  to  priests,  but  to  the  heads  of 
families.  Their  worship  was  in  temples,  in  which  were 
no  images,  and  where  the  forms  of  devotion  were  care- 
fully framed  in  such  a  way  as  not  to  offend  the  feelings 
of  any  class  of  sincere  worshippers.  In  this  work,  as  in 
the  sermons  of  Colet,  even  such  as  were  preached  before 
Henry  VIII.,  there  was  a  plain  exposure  of  the  barbari- 
ties and  impolicy  of  war.  In  reference  to  what  we  term 
political  and  social  science,  there  appear  in  the  teachings 
of  Colet  and  More,  and  of  their  still  more  famous  asso- 
ciate, a  humane  spirit  and  a  hostility  to  tyranny  and  to, 
all  oppressive  legislation,  which  are  not  less  consonant 
with  the  spirit  of  the  Gospel,  than  they  were  in  advance 
of  the  practice  of  the  times.1 

The  foremost  representative  of  Humanism,  the  incar- 
nation, as  it  were,  of  its  genius,  was  Erasmus.2  The 
preeminence  which  he  attained  as  a  literary  man  is  what 
no  other  scholar  has  approached,  unless  it  be  Voltaire, 
whom  he  resembled  in  the  deference  paid  to  him  by  the 

1  The  relations  of  Colet,  More,  and  Erasmus,  and  the  characteristic  work  of 
each,  are  finely  described  in  the  truly  interesting  work  of  Seebohm,  The  Oxford 
Reformers  o/1498  (London,  1869). 

2  Opera,  xi.  vols.,  folio  ed.  (Clericus)  1703.  There  are  lives  of  Erasmus  by 
LeClerc,  Bayle,  Knight,  Burigny  (Paris,  1757),  Jortin  (1758-60),  Hess  (Zurich. 
1790),  Adolf  Miiller  (1828),  by  Erhard  in  Ersch  uhd  Gruber's  Encyclopad. 
(xxxvi.),  and  by  others;  a  sketch  by  Nisard  in  his  Etudes  sur  la  Renaissance. 
These  biographies  are  criticized  by  Milman  in  his  interesting  article  on  Eras- 
mus, Quart.  Rev.,  No.  ccxi.,  reprinted  in  his  Essays.  Notwithstanding  the 
unfavorable  judgment  of  Johnson,  Jortin's  Life  is  anything  but  a  "  dull  book." 
For  a  scholar,  notwithstanding  its  want  of  plaji  and  of  symmetry,  it  is  one  of 
the  most  delightful  of  biographies. 


78      SPECIAL   CAUSES   AND   OMENS  OF   THE   REFORMATION. 

great  in  worldly  rank.  Each  was  a  wit  and  an  iconoclast 
in  his  own  way,  but  their  characters  in  other  respects 
were  quite  unlike.1  The  fame  of  Erasmus  was  rendered 
possible,  in  part,  by  the  universal  use  of  Latin,  as  the 
common  language  of  educated  men .;  a  state  of  things  of 
which  his  want  of  familiarity  with  Italian  and  English, 
although  he  had  sojourned  in  Italy  and  lived  long  in 
England,  is  a  curious  sign.  By  the  irresistible  bent  of 
his  mind,  as  well  as  by  assiduous  culture,  Erasmus  was 
a  man  of  letters.  He  must  be  that,  whatever  else  he 
failed  to  be.  His  knowledge  of  Greek  was  inferior  to 
that  of  his  contemporary  and  rival,  Budams  ;  he  took  no 
pains  to  give  his  style  a  classical  finish,  and  laughed  at 
the  pedantic  Ciceronians,  who  avoided  all  phraseology  not 
sanctioned  by  the  best  ancient  authority,  and  sometimes 
all  words  not  found  in  their  favorite  author.3  He  wrote 
hastily:  "I  precipitate,'1  he  says,  "rather  than  com- 
pose." 4  Yet  the  wit  and  wisdom  and  varied  erudition 
which  he  poured  forth  from  his  full  mind,  made  him 
justly  the  most  popular  of  writers.  He  sat  on  his  throne, 
an  object  of  admiration  and  of  envy.  By  his  multifarious 
publications  and  his  wide  correspondence  with  eminent 
persons,  ecclesiastics,  statesmen,  and  scholars,  his  influence 
was  diffused  over  all  Europe.  In  all  the  earlier  part  of 
his  career  Erasmus  strug-oded  with  indigence.  His  health 
was  not  strong  and  he  thought  that  he  could  not  live  upon 
a  little.  His  dependence  upon  patronage  and  pensions 
placed  fetters  upon  him,  to  some  extent,  to  the  end  of  his 
life  ;  }^et  he  loved  independence,  frequently  chose  to  re- 
ceive the  attentions  of  the  great  at  a  distance  from  them, 
and  selected  for  his  place  of  abode  the  city  of  Basel, 
where  he  was  free  alike  from  secular  and  ecclesiastical 
tyranny.     Erasmus,  by  his  writings  and  his  entire  per- 

1  Coleridge  has  compared  and  contrasted  them,  The  Friend,  First  Landing 
Place :  Essay  i.  * 

2  .Tortin,  ii.  74.  8  /fttf    i.  ir>2.  4  Ibid.,  i.  152. 


ERASMUS.  79 

sonal  influence,  was  the  foe  of  superstition.  In  his  early 
days  he  had  tasted,  by  constraint,  something  of  monkish 
life,  and  his  natural  abhorrence  of  it  was  made  more  in- 
tense by  this  bitter  recollection  and  by  the  trouble  it  cost 
him,  after  he  had  become  famous,  to  release  himself  from 
the  thraldom  to  which  his  former  associates  were  inclined 
to  call  him  back.  In  truth,  he  conducted  a  life-long  war- 
fare against  the  monks  and  their  ideas  and  practices.  His 
"  Praise  of  Folly  "  and,  in  particular,  the  "  Colloquies," 
in  which  the  idleness,  illiteracy,  self-indulgence,  and  arti- 
ficial and  useless  austerities  of  "  the  religious,"  were 
handled  in  the  most  diverting  style,  were  read  with  in- 
finite amusement  by  all  who  sympathized  with  the  new 
studies,  and  by  thousands  who  did  not  calculate  the  effect 
of  this  telling  satire  in  abating  popular  reverence  for  the 
Church.  The  "  Praise  of  Folly  "  was  written  in  1510 
or  1511,  in  More's  house,  for  the  amusement  of  his  host 
and  a  few  other  friends.  Folly  is  personified,  and  repre- 
sented as  discoursing  to  her  followers  on  the  affairs  of 
mankind.  All  classes  come  in  for  their  share  of  ridicule. 
Grammarians  and  pedagogues,  in  the  foetid  atmosphere 
of  their  schoolrooms,  bawling  at  their  boys  and  beating 
them  ;  scholastic  theologians,  wrangling  upon  frivolous 
and  insoluble  questions,  and  prating  of  the  physical  con- 
stitution of  the  world  as  if  they  had  come  down  from  a 
council  of  the  gods  —  "  with  whom  and  whose  conjectures 
nature  is  mightily  amused  ; "  monks,  "  the  race  of  new 
Jews,"  who  are  surprised  at  last  to  find  themselves  among 
the  goats,  on  the  left  hand  of  the  Judge,  faring  worse 
than  common  sailors  and  wagoners  ;  kings  who  forget 
their  responsibilities,  rob  their  subjects,  and  think  only  of 
their  own  pleasures,  as  hunting  and  the  keeping  of  fine 
horses ;  popes  who,  though  infirm  old  men,  take  the 
sword  into  their  hands,  and  "  turn  law,  religion,  peace, 
and  all  human  affairs  upside  down  "  —  such  are  some  of 
the  divisions  of  mankind  who  are  held  up  to   ridicule. 


80      SPECIAL   CAUSES  AND   OMENS   OF   THE   REFORMATION. 

At  this  time  Julius  II.  filled  the  papal  chair,  and  all 
readers  of  Erasmus  must  have  recognized  the  portrait 
which  he  drew  of  the  warlike  old  pontiff.  Erasmus  did 
not  spare  the  legends  of  the  saints,  which  formed  so  fair  a 
mark  for  the  shafts  of  wit  ;  and  by  his  observations  on 
the  stigmata  of  St.  Francis,  offended  the  order  of 
which  he  was  the  almost  adored  founder.  When  re- 
quested by  a  cardinal  to  draw  up  the  lives  of  the  Saints, 
he  begged  to  be  excused  ;  they  were  too  full  of  fables.1 
His  comments  on  misgovernment  in  the  Church,  on  the 
extortions  and  vices  of  the  clergy,  from  the  Pope  down- 
wards, were  not  the  less  biting  and  effective,  for  the  hu- 
morous form  in  which  they  were  generally  cast.  Indeed, 
as  Coleridge  has  said,  it  is  a  merit  of  the  jests  of  Erasmus 
that  they  can  all  be  translated  into  arguments.  There 
was  what  he  called  a  "  Pharisaic  kingdom,"  and  he  would 
never  write  anything,  he  said,  that  would  give  aid  and 
comfort  to  the  defenders  of  it.2  In  his  own  mind,  he 
distinguished  between  the  Church  and  the  "  Popish  sect," 
as  he  designated,  even  in  a  letter  to  Melancthon,  the  sup- 
porters of  ecclesiastical  abuses  and  tyranny.8  There 
were,  in  his  judgment,  two  evils  that  must  be  cut  up  by 
the  roots  before  the  Church  could  have  peace.  The  one 
was  hatred  for  the  court  of  Rome,  occasioned  by  her  in- 
tolerable avarice  and  cruelty ;  the  other  was  the  yoke  of 
human  constitutions,  robbing  the  people  of  their  religious 
liberty.  He  would  have  made  the  creed  a  very  short 
one,  limited  to  a  few  "  plain  truths  contained  in  Scrip- 
ture," and  leaving  all  the  rest  to  the  individual  judgment. 
He  thought  that  many  things  should  be  referred,  not  ac- 
cording to  the  popular  cry,  to  "  the  next  general  council." 
but  to  the  time  when  we  see  God  face  to  face.4  Partly 
from  the  natural  kindness  of  his  temper,  partly  from  his 
liberal  culture,  and  still  more,  perhaps,  from  a  personal 
appreciation  of  the  difficulties  and  uncertainties  of  religious 

1  Jortin,  i.  294,  ii.  34.       2  ibid.,  i.  284.       »  Ibid.,  i.  313.       4  /bid.,  i.  265. 


THE   WRITINGS   OF   ERASMUS.  81 

doctrine,  he  went  beyond  almost  every  other  eminent  man 
of  his  age  in  his  liking  for  religious  liberty.  He  was  con- 
scious that  without  the  practice  of  a  pretty  wide  toleration 
on  the  part  of  rulers  in  Church  and  State,  he  would  him- 
self fare  ill.  He  was,  in  fact,  obliged  to  be  constantly  on 
his  defense  against  charges  of  heresy.  He  had  said  things 
without  number  which  could  easily  be  turned  into  grounds 
of  accusation.  His  enemies  were  numerous  and  vindictive, 
and  although,  in  the  literary  combat,  he  was  more  than  a 
match  for  all  of  them,  he  was  sensitive  to  their  attacks. 
He  complains  that  the  Spaniard,  Stunica,  had  presented 
to  Leo  X.  a  libel  against  him,  containing  sixty  thousand 
heresies  extracted  from  his  writings.1  Notwithstanding 
all  his  denials  and  professions,  there  lurked  in  the  minds 
of  the  ardent  adherents  of  the  mediaeval  system,  an  in- 
stinctive feeling  that  he  was  a  dangerous  enemy,  and  that 
his  influence,  so  far  as  it  prevailed,  could  only  conduce  to 
their  overthrow.  In  this  feeling,  whatever  may  have  been 
true  of  their  specific  charges,  they  were  fully  justified. 
Yet  it  is  doubtful  whether  the  condemnation  of  his  "  Col- 
loquies "  by  the  University  of  Paris,  and  other  proceed- 
ings of  a  like  nature,  which  emanated  from  the  monkish 
party,  did  not  operate  to  give  to  his  ideas  a  wider  currency. 
But  there  was  a  positive  work  which  Erasmus  did,  the 
solidity  and  value  of  which  it  is  difficult  to  overestimate. 
By  his  editions  of  Cyprian  and  Jerome,  and  his  transla- 
tions from  Origen,  Athanasius,  and  Chrysostom,  he  opened 
up  the  knowledge  of  Christian  antiquity,  and  gave  his 
contemporaries  access  to  a  purer  and  more  Biblical  the- 
ology. His  edition  of  the  New  Testament,  his  paraphrases 
of  the  New  Testament,  which  were  at  one  time  ajipointed 
to  be  read  in  the  churches  of  England,  his  commentaries, 
his  treatise  on  preaching,  and  various  other  works,  pro- 
moted Christian  knowledge  in  a  most  remarkable  degree. 
In  his  writings  of  this  sort,  along  with  enlightened  views 

1  Jortin,  i.  269. 


82   SPECIAL  CAUSES  AND  OMENS  OF  THE  REFORMATION. 

of  doctrine  and  of  the  nature  of  the  Christian  life,  were 
earnest  complaints  against  the  multitude  of  church  ordin- 
ances contrived  for  the  oppression  of  the  poor  and  the 
enriching  of  the  clergy.  He  would  have  the  laity  in- 
structed ;  he  wished  that  the  humblest  woman  might  read 
the  Gospels.  The  judaizing  customs  and  rites  with  which 
the  Church  was  burdened,  are  pointed  out  in  his  comments 
on  Scripture.  In  these  publications,  which  the  art  of 
printing  scattered  in  multiplied  editions  over  Europe,  the 
great  lights  of  the  patristic  age,  and  the  Apostles  them- 
selves, reappeared  to  break  up  the  reign  of  superstition. 
Never  was  an  alliance  between  author  and  printer  more 
happy  for  both  parties,  or  more  fruitful  of  good  to  the  pub- 
lic, than  was  that  between  Erasmus  and  Froben  of  Basel. 
In  view  of  the  whole  career  and  various  productions  of  the 
Chief  of  the  Humanists,  it  is  not  exaggerated  praise  to  say 
that  he  was  "  the  living  embodiment  of  almost  all  that 
which,  in  consequence  of  the  revival  of  the  study  of  the 
ancients,  the  mind  of  the  Western  nations  for  more  than  a 
hundred  years  had  wrought  out  and  attained.  It  was  not 
only  a  knowledge  of  languages,  not  only  cultivation  of 
style,  of  taste  ;  but  therewith  the  whole  mental  cast  had 
received  a  freer  turn,  a  finer  touch.  In  this  comprehen- 
sive sense,  one  may  say  that  Erasmus  was  the  most  cul- 
tivated man  of  his  times."  1 

Of  the  relations  of  Erasmus  to  Luther  and  the  Prot- 
estant cause,  there  will  be  an  occasion  to  speak  hereafter. 
His  writings  and  the  reception  accorded  to  them  show 
that  the  European  mind  had  outgrown  the  existing  ec- 
clesiastical system,  and  was  ready  to  break  loose  from  its 
control. 

Some  of  the  principal  points  in  the  view  which  has  been 
presented  in  this  and  in  the  preceding  lecture,  respecting 
the  causes  that  paved  the  way  of  the  Reformation,  may 
be  briefly  set  forth  as  follows  :  — 

1  Struuss,  Ulrich  von  Uutfen,  p.  481. 


RECAPITULATION.  83 

Among  the  salient  features  characteristic  of  the  Middle 
Ages  were  :  the  subordination  of  civil  to  ecclesiastical  so- 
ciety, of  the  State  to  the  vast  theocratical  community 
having  its  centre  at  Rome  ;  the  government  of  the  Church 
by  the  clergy  ;  the  union  of  peoples  under  a  common  ec- 
clesiastical law  and  a  uniform  Latin  ritual ;  an  intellectual 
activity  shaped  by  the  clergy  and  subservient  to  the  pre- 
vailing religious  and  ecclesiastical  system. 

Among  the  symptoms  of  the  rise  of  a  new  order  of 
things  were :  — 

1.  The  laical  spirit ;  becoming  alive  to  the  rights  and 
interests  of  civil  society  ;  developing  in  the  towns  a  body 
of  citizens  bold  to  confront  clerical  authority,  and  with 
their  practical  understanding  sharpened  and  invigorated 
by  diversified  industry  and  by  commerce  ;  a  laical  spirit 
which  manifested  itself,  also,  in  the  lower  classes,  in  satires 
aimed  at  the  vices  of  the  clergy  ;  which,  likewise,  gave 
rise  to  a  more  intense  feeling  of  patriotism,  a  new  sense  of 
the  national  bond,  a  new  vigor  in  national  churches.1 

2.  A  conscious  or  unconscious  religious  opposition  to 
the  established  system ;  an  opposition  which  appeared  in 
sects  like  the  Waldenses,  who  brought  forward  the  Bible 
as  a  means  of  correcting  the  teaching,  rebuking  the  offi- 
cers, or  reforming  the  organization  of  the  Church  ;  or  in 
mystics  who  regarded  religion  as  an  inward  life,  an  im- 
mediate relation  of  the  individual  to  God,  and  preached 
fervently  to  the  people  in  their  own  tongue. 

3.  A  literary  and  scientific  movement,  following  and 
displacing  the  method  of  culture  that  was  peculiar  to  the 
mediaeval  age  ;  a  movement  which  enlarged  the  area  and 
multiplied  the  subjects  of  thought  and  investigation  ;  which 
drew  inspiration  and  nutriment  from  the  masterpieces  of 
ancient  wisdom,  eloquence,  and  art. 

1  See  Hagen,  DeutscldantVs  literarisehe  u.  religiose  Verhiiltnisse  im  Reformn- 
tionszeitalter,  i.  1-32.  Butllagen  (p.  18)  separates  the  "  sarvrisch  volksmiissige  " 
opposition,  as  a  distinct  head,  in  the  room  of  the  more  general  rubric  above. 
He  does  not  omit  to  notice,  however,  the  other  elements  involved  in  the  lay 
spirit. 


84      SPECIAL   CAUSES   AND   OMENS   OF  THE  REFORMATION. 

These  three  latent  or  open  species  of  antagonism  to  the 
mediaeval  spirit  were  often  mingled  with  one  another. 
The  Mystic  and  the  Humanist  might  be  united  in  the 
same  person.  The  laical  spirit  in  its  higher  types  of  mani- 
festation was  reinforced  by  the  new  culture.  Satirical 
attacks  upon  absurd  ceremonies,  upon  the  follies  and  sins 
of  monks  and  priests,  had  a  keener  edge,  as  well  as  a 
more  serious  effect,  when  they  emanated  from  students 
familiar  with  Plautus  and  Juvenal. 


CHAPTER   IV. 

# 

LUTHER     AND    THE    GERMAN    REFORMATION,     TO     THE 
DIET    OF   AUGSBURG,    1530. 

Germany,  including  the  Netherlands  and  Switzerland, 
was  the  centre,  the  principal  theatre,  of  the  Reformation. 
It  is  not  without  truth  that  the  Germans  claim,  as  the 
native  characteristic  of  their  race,  a  certain  inwardness, 
or  spirituality  in  the  large  sense  of  the  term.  This  goes 
far  to  explain  the  hospitable  reception  which  the  Germanic 
tribes  gave  to  Christianity,  and  the  docility  with  which 
they  embraced  it.1  They  found  in  the  Christian  religion 
a  congenial  spirit.  The  German  spirit  of  independence, 
or  love  of  personal  liberty,  is  a  branch  of  this  general 
habit  of  mind.  Germany  began  its  existence  as  a  distinct 
nation  in  a  successful  resistance  to  the  attempt  of  the 
clergy  to  dispose  of  the  inheritance  of  Charlemagne.2  It 
was  the  Germans  who  prevented  his  monarchy  from  being 
converted  into  an  ecclesiastical  State.  On  the  field  of 
Fontenay  the  forces  of  the  Franks  were  separated  into 
two  hostile  division^,  the  one  composed  predominantly  of 

1  "  Es  war  das  Christenthum  nichts  was  dem  Deutschen  fremd  unci  widerwiir- 
tig  gewesen  ware,  vielmehr  bekam  der  deutsche  Charakter  durch  das  Christen- 
thum nur  die  Vollendung  seiner  selbst;  erfand  sich  in  der  Kirche  Christi  selbst, 
nur  gchoben,  verkliirt  und  geheiligt."  Vilmar,  Geschichte  der  deutschen  Lit- 
eratur,  p.  7.  Tacitus  says  of  the  ancient  Germans,  that  they  conceived  it  un- 
worthy of  the  gods  to  be  confined  within  walls,  or  to  be  represented  by  images; 
and  that  the  head  of  a  family  exercised  a  priestly  function.  Ger  mania,  cc.  ix., 
x.  Grimm  finds  in  the  descriptions  of  Tacitus  the  complete  germ  of  Protestan- 
tism —  "  den  vollen  keim  des  Protestantismus/'  Deutsche  Mythologie,  p.  xliii. 
For  like  views  from  a  French  writer,  see  Taine,  Art  in  the  Netherlands,  pp.  ;i2. 
33,  G4.  The  Saxons  resisted  the  Gospel,  because  it  was  forced  on  them  by  a 
conqueror. 

2  Ranke,  Deutsche  Geschichte,  i.  10  scq. 


86       LUTHER  AND  THE  GERMAN  REFORMATION. 

the  German  element,  which  planted  itself  on  the  German 
traditional  law  for  regulating  the  succession  ;  the  other  of 
the  Roman  element  that  had  the  support  of  the  ecclesias- 
Mysticism,  the  product  of  a  craving  for  a  religion 
of  less  show  and  more  heart,  had,  as  we  have  seen,  its 
Btronghold,  in  the  latter  part  of  the  mediaeval  period,  in 
Germany.  Tlie  triumph  of  the  Papacy  had  been  due  to 
the  division  between  the  emperor  and  the  great  vassals  ; 
not  to  any  deep-seated  fondness  for  a  foreign  and  ecclesi- 
astical  supremacy.  It  was  natural  that  the  Reformation, 
which  waa  an  uprising  against  clerical  usurpation  and  in 
favor  of  a  more  inward  and  spiritual  worship,  should 
spring  up  in  Germany.  A  German  philosopher  has  dwelt 
with  eloquence  upon  the  fact  that  while  the  rest  of  the  world 
had  gone  out  to  America,  to  the  Indies,  in  quest  of  riches 
and  to  found  an  earthly  empire  encircling  the  globe,  on 
which  the  sun  should  never  set,  a  simple  monk,  turning 
away  from  the  things  of  sense  and  empty  forms,  was  find- 
ing Him  whom  the  disciples  had  once  sought  for  in  a 
sepulchre  of  stone.  Hegel  attributes  the  inception  and 
success  of  the  Reformation  to  this  "  ancient  and  constantly 
preserved  inwardness  of  the  German  people,"  in  conse- 
quence  of  which  they  arc  not  content  to  approach  God  by 
proxy,  or  put  their  religion  outside  of  them,  in  sacraments 
and  ceremonies,  in  sensuous,  imposing  spectacles.1  A  Ger- 
man historian  has  made  substantially  the  same  assertion 
respecting  the  genius  of  the  German  people:  "One  pe- 
cnliar  characteristic  for  which  the  German  race  has  ever 
been  distinguished  is  their  profound  sense  of  the  religious 
element,  seated  in  the  inmost  depths  of  the  soul;  their 
readiness  to  be  impelled  by  the  discordant  strifes  of  the 
external  world  and  unfruitful  human  ordinances,  to  seek 
an.l  find  God  in  the  deep  recesses  of  their  own  hearts,  and 
to  experience  ;i  hidden  life  in  God  springing  forth  in  op- 
position to  barren   conceptions  of   the  abstract  intellect 

1  Begel,  Phil  <hr  Geschichte;  Werke,  ix.  499  seq. 


LUTHER   THE   HERO    OF    THE   REFORMATION.  87 

that  leave  the  heart  cold  and  dead,  a  mechanism  that  con- 
verts religion  into  a  round  of  outward  ceremonies."  : 

Unquestionably  the  hero  of  the  Reformation  was  Lu- 
ther. Without  him  and  his  powerful  influence,  other 
reformatory  movements,  even  such  as  had  an  independent 
beginning,  like  that  of  Zwingle,  might  have  failed  of  suc- 
cess. As  far  as  we  can  judge,  they  would  have  produced 
no  wide-spread  commotion  and  led  to  no  enduring  results. 
It  has  been  said,  with  truth,  of  Luther,  that  "  his  whole 
life  and  character,  his  heart  and  soul  and  mind,  are  iden- 
tified and  one  with  his  great  work,  in  a  manner  very  dif- 
ferent from  what  we  see  in  other  men.  Melancthon,  for 
instance,  may  easily  be  conceived  apart  from  the  Reforma- 
tion, as  an  eminent  divine,  living  in  other  ages  of  the 
Church,  as  the  friend  of  Augustine  or  the  companion  of 
Fenelon.  Even  Calvin  may  be  separated  in  thought 
from  the  age  of  the  Reformation,  and  may  be  set  among 
the  Schoolmen,  or  in  the  council  chamber  of  Hildebrand 
or  of  Innocent,  or  at  the  Synod  of  Dort,  or  among  Crom- 
well's chaplains."  "  But  Luther  apart  from  the  Refor- 
mation would  cease  to  be  Luther."  2 

He  was  born  in  1483,  at  the  very  time  when  Colum- 
bus was  straggling  to  obtain  the  means  of  prosecuting 
that  voyage  which  resulted  in  the  discovery  of  a  new 
world.3  It  is  a  marked  historical  coincidence,  which  has 
more  than  once  been  pointed  out,  that  the  reform  of  the 
Christian  religion  should  be  simultaneous  with  the  open- 
ing of  new  regions  of  the  globe,  into  which  Christianity 
was  to  be   carried.4     Luther's  family,  before  his  birth, 

1  Neander,  v.  81. 

'l  Archdeacon  Hare,  Vindication  of  Luther  against  his  recent  English  As- 
saUants,  p.  2. 

:!  Melanctlion  states  that  Euther's  mother  often  said  that  while  she  remem- 
bered with  certainty  the  day  and  hour,  she  could  not  remember  the  year  of  his 
birth;  but  his  brother,  James,  an  honest  and  upright  man,  said  that  it  was 
1483.  Vita  M.  Lwtheri,  ii.  Some  are  of  opinion,  in  view  of  recently  discov- 
ered evidence,  that  it  was  1484.     See  Studien  u.  Kritiken  (Oct.  1871). 

*  The  coincidence  of  the  great  geographical  discoveries  with  the  access  "f 


88  LUTHEB    AND    THE    GERMAN    REFORMATION. 

had  removed  to  Eisleben  from  Mohra,  a  village  in  the 
Thuringian  Forest,  near  the  spot  where  Boniface,  the 
apostle  of  Germany,  had  first  preached  the  Gospel.1 

^  I  am  a  peasant's  son,"  he  says ;  "  my  father,  my 
grandfather,  my  great  grandfather  were  thorough  peas- 
ants (rechte  Bauern)."  His  domestic  training  was  well 
meant,  but  rough  and  austere.  He  was  severely  punished 
for  slight  offenses,  both  at  home  and  by  his  teachers. 
At  school  he  was  chastised  fifteen  times,  in  one  forenoon, 
for  trivial  or  imaginary  infractions  of  law.  Having 
spent  a  year  at  school  at  Magdeburg,  he  was  sent  to  the 
Franciscan  school  at  Eisenach,  where  he  sang  at  the 
doors  of  the  principal  citizens,  after  the  old  German  cus- 
tom, for  the  means  of  support.  Destined  for  the  legal 
]>r  il'ession,  he  pursued,  at  the  University  of  Erfurt,  the 
Nominalist  logic  and  the  classics,  and  made  a  beginning 
in  the  study  of  Aristotle.  He  was  twenty  years  old  and 
had  taken  the  Bachelor's  degree  when  it  happened  that, 
while  lie  was  looking  one  day  at  the  books  in  the  Erfurt 
library,  lie  casually  took  up  a  copy  of  the  Latin  Bible. 
It  was  the  first  time  in  his  life  that  he  had  ever  taken 
tin-  sacred  volume  in  his  hands.2  Struck  with  surprise  at 
the  richness  of  its  contents,  compared  with  the  extracts 
which  he  had  been  wont  to  hear  in  the  Church  services, 
ad  it  with  eagerness  and  intense  delight.  This  hour 
was  an  epoch  in  his  existence.  Deep  religious  anxieties 
thai  bad  haunted  him  from  childhood,  moved  him,  two 
years  later,  against  the  will  of  his  father,  to  forsake  the 
ion  ami  enter  the  Augustinian  convent,  where 

light  respecting  the  Gospel  and  with  the  revival  of  learning,  is  noticed  by  the 
French  Reformer,  Lefevre,  Correspond'! ace  des  Reformat eurs  dans  les  Pays 
it  I,  I.  mgue  Frunqaiae,  par  A.  I..  Berminjard  (1866)  i.  9-4. 

1  A  copioui  writer  upon  the  earlier  portion  of  the  life  of  Luther  is  Jhrgens, 
Luther  von  8<  in,  r  <;,  hurt  bis  zum  Ablassstreite,  U83-1517.     3  vols.  (1846). 

J  Matheaiu  .  //  1st  rien  von  d.  Ehrwurdigen  M.  Luther,  p.  3  (ed.  1580).  This 
chronicler  Bhowa  how  grossly  defective  was  the  religious  instruction 
given  to  youth  by  reference  to  his  own  case.  The  passage  may  be  read  in 
Marheinecke,  GeschichU  d.  deutschen  Reformation,  i.  G. 


LUTHER    AT    WITTENBERG.  89 

he  became  a  monk  and  a  priest.  It  is  worthy  of  remark 
that  the  only  two  books  that  he  carried  into  the  convent 
were  his  Plautus  and  Virgil.  Here  he  remained  until  he 
was  called  to  the  newly  founded  University  of  Witten- 
berg. The  Elector  of  Saxony  had  established  this  univer- 
sity, giving  to  the  professors  charge  over  the  principal 
Church  and  the  enjoyment  of  its  incomes ;  his  idea  being 
not  only  to  organize  a  place  of  instruction,  but  to  collect  a 
learned  body,  to  which,  in  difficult  and  doubtful  questions, 
he  might,  according  to  the  prevailing  custom,  resort  for 
counsel.  Here,  to  quote  another's  words,  we  find  the 
poor  miner's  boy  who,  having  "  become  a  young  Doctor, 
fervent  and  rejoicing  in  the  Scriptures,  well  versed  in  his 
Augustine,  Aquinas,  Occam,  and  Gerson,  familiar  with  all 
the  subtle  theological  and  philosophical  controversies  of 
the  day,  was  already  spoken  of  honorably  in  wider 
circles,  as  a  good,  clever  thinker,  as  a  victorious  assailer 
of  the  supremacy  of  Aristotle  ;  took  a  lively  interest  in 
the  struggles  of  the  Humanists  against  the  ancient  bar- 
barism ;  was  esteemed  by  the  most  celebrated  champions 
of  the  freedom  of  science ;  was  exalted  by  the  approba- 
tion of  his  colleagues,  of  the  students  that  flocked  to  his 
lectures  —  in  a  word,  was  advancing  with  rapid  steps  to 
the  highest  honors  of  literary  renown."  l  This  was  the 
situation  of  Luther  when  the  event  occurred  that  crave 

o 

character  to  the  remainder  of  his  career. 

Here  we  must  pause  to  consider  the  religious  expe- 
rience of  Luther ;  for  whoever  would  explore  the  causes 
of  history  must  look  beneath  the  surface  of  events  at  the 
spiritual  life  of  men.  His  earlier  conception  of  Chris- 
tianity is  condensed  in  one  expression,  that  he  had  looked 
upon  Christ  as  a  lawgiver,  a  second  Moses,  only  that  the 
former  was  a  legislator  of  more  awful  riff  or.     "  We  were 

1  Ilundeshagen,  Der  deutsche  Protestantismns,  p.  13.  (Quoted  by  Hare,  p. 
295  seq.)  An  idea  of  Luther's  influence,  as  well  as  of  his  multiplied  employ- 
ments, may  be  gathered  from  one  of  his  early  letters,  De  Wette,  i.  41. 


90       LUTHER  AND  THE  GERMAN  REFORMATION. 

all  taught,"  he  says  in  his  "  Table-talk,"  "that  we  must 
make  satisfaction  for  our  sins,  and  that  Christ  at  the  last 
day  would  demand  how  we  had  atoned  for  our  guilt,  and 
. od  works  we  had  done."  Melancthon  says 
that  the  motive  which  led  him  to  adopt  the  monastic  life 
was  i his:  "  ( >ften  when  he  thought  on  the  anger  of  God 
or  of  the  wonderful  instances  of  divine  punishment,  he 
was  seized  with  a  terror  so  violent  that  he  was  well-nigh 
I;,  nit  of  life."  1  When  he  held  his  first  mass,  and  came 
to  recite  the  words,  "  I  bring  this  offering  to  thee,  the 
eternal,  living  God,"  he  was  with  difficulty  restrained 
from  rushing  away  from  the  altar  in  fear  and  dismay. 
••  I  had,"  he  confesses,  "  a  broken  spirit,  and  was  ever  in 
sorrow."  "  I  wore  out  my  body  with  vigils  and  fastings, 
and  hoped  thus  to  satisfy  the  law  and  deliver  my  con- 
science from  the  sting  of  guilt,"  "Had  I  not  been  re- 
deemed by  the  comfort  of  the  Gospel,  I  could  not  have 
lived  two  years  longer."  This  comfort  he  began  to  ob- 
tain through  an  old  monk  who  pointed  him  to  the  sen- 
tence in  the  Apostles'  Creed,  "  I  believe  in  the  forgive- 
ans,"  and  to   a  passage  in  St.  Bernard   where 

ence  is  made  to  Paul's  doctrine  that  "man  is  justi- 
I,  -I  by  Eaith."  Still  more  was  he  aided  by  the  judicious 
conns. -Is  of  John  Staupitz,  the  learned  and  pious  Vicar- 
genera]  of  liis  order,  whose  words,  Luther  afterwards 
Baid,  pierced  him  "like  the  sharp  arrow  of  a  strong  man." 
lie  studied  Augustine  and  Tauler,  and  caught  glimpses 
of  evangelical  doctrine  in  them.2  Especially  he  devoted 
himself  to  the  study  of  the  prophets  and  apostles.  He 
had  hardly  begun  to  expound  to  his  pupils  the  Epistle  to 

Romans,   when    his   eve  fastened  upon  the  citation 

a   prophet,  "the  just  shall  live  by  faith."     These 

words  oever  ceased  to  sound  in  his  ear.      Going  to  Rome 

i    Vita  M.  1. 'if/,.,  v. 

I  He  recommends  Tauler  to  his  friend  Spalatin  (Doc.  14,  1510):  "Neque 
enim  egovel  in  l.atina,  vl  in  nostra  lingua,  theologiam  vidi  salubriorem  et 
•  inn  erangeifo  conaonantiorera."    I>e  Wette,  i.  40. 


LUTHER'S   RELIGIOUS   EXPERIENCE.  91 

on  a  mission  for  his  order  (1510),  he  ran  about  full  of 
devotional  ardor,  from  church  to  church.  But  those  words 
of  the  Apostle  Paul,  "  the  just  shall  live  by  faith,"  more 
and  more  impressed  themselves  upon  his  thoughts.  Dur- 
ing his  slow  journey  homewards  he  pondered  these  words. 
At  length  their  full  meaning  burst  upon  him.  "  Through 
the  Gospel  that  righteousness  is  revealed  which  avails  be- 
fore God  —  by  which  He,  out  of  grace  and  mere  compas- 
sion, justifies  us  through  faith."  "  Here  I  felt  at  once," 
he  says,  "  that  I  was  wholly  born  again  and  that  I  had 
entered  through  open  doors  into  Paradise  itself.  That 
passage  of  Paul  was  truly  to  me  the  gate  of  Paradise."1 
He  saw  that  Christ  is  not  come  as  a  lawgiver,  but  as  a  Sav- 
iour ;  that  love,  not  wrath  or  justice,  is  the  motive  in  his 
mission  and  work  ;  that  the  forgiveness  of  sins  through 
Him  is  a  free  gift  ;  that  the  relationship  of  the  soul  to 
Him,  and  through  Him  to  the  Father,  which  is  expressed 
by  the  term  faith,  the  responsive  act  of  the  soul  to  the 
divine  mercy,  is  all  that  is  required.  This  method  of 
reconciliation  is  without  the  works  of  the  law.  Good 
works  are  the  fruit  of  faith,  a  spontaneous  and  necessary 
product.  Now  he  had  found  a  clue  to  the  understanding 
of  the  Bible.  If  John  was  his  favorite  Evangelist,  he 
found  in  them  all  one  doctrine.  But  in  the  writings  of 
Paul,  whose  religious  development  so  closely  resembled 
his  own,  he  found  a  protest  against  judaizing  theology 
and  an  assertion  of  salvation  by  faith,  in  opposition  to  a 
legal  system,  which  gave  him  intense  satisfaction.  The 
Epistles  to  the  Romans  and  Galatians  were  his  familiar 
companions ;  the  latter  he  styled,  in  his  humorous  way, 
his  wife,  his  Catharino  von  Bora. 

The  logical  consequences  of  his  new  position,  in  rela- 
tion to  the  ordinances  and  ceremonies  of  the  Church,  and 
the  principle  of  Church  authority,  had  not  occurred  to  the 
thoughts  of  Luther.     It  was  only  providential  events,  and 

i  Prcef.  Operum  (1515). 


92       LUTHER  AND  THE  GERMAN  REFORMATION. 

the  reflection  which  they  induced,  that  brought  the  latent 
contents  of  his  principle  to  distinct  consciousness.  The 
firs!  of  these  events  was  the  appearance  of  Tetzel,  a 
hawker  of  indulgences,  in  the  neighborhood  of  Witten- 
berg.  The  mischief  resulting  from  this  traffic  was  forced 
',n  the  attention  of  Luther  by  facts  that  were  disclosed  to, 
bira  in  the  confessional.  He  was  moved  to  preach  against 
it,  to  write  to  bishops  in  opposition  to  it,  and  finally  to 
posl  his  five  and  ninety  theses  on  the  door  of  the  Church 
of  All  Saints  at  Wittenberg  (1517). 

Indulgences,  in  the  earlier  ages  of  the  Church,  ha<J 
been  a  relaxation  of  penance,  or  of  the  discipline  imposed 
by  the  Church  on  penitents  who  had  been  guilty  of  mortal 
sin.  The  doctrine  of  penance  required  that  for  such  sin 
satisfaction  should  be  superadded  to  contrition  and  con- 
fession. Then  came  the  custom  of  commuting  these 
appointed  temporal  penalties.  When  Christianity  spread 
among  the  northern  nations,  the  canonical  penances  were 
frequently  found  to  be  inapplicable  to  their  condition.  The 
practice  of  accepting  offerings  of  money  in  the  room  of 
the  ordinary  forms  of  penance,  harmonized  with  the  penal 
codes  iii  vogue  among  the  barbarian  peoples.  At  first  the 
priest  had  only  exercised  the  office  of  an  intercessor. 
Gradually  the  simple  function  of  declaring  the  divine 
forgiveness  fco  the  penitent  transformed  itself  into  that  of 
a  judge.  By  Aquinas,  the  priest  is  made  the  instrument 
of  conveying  the  divine  pardon,  the  vehicle  through 
which  i In-  grace  of  Cod  passes  to  the  penitent.  With 
the  jubilees,  or  pilgrimages  to  Rome,  ordained  by  the 
popes,  '"im''  the  plenary  indulgences,  or  the  complete  re- 
rnie  ion  of  all  temporal  penalties  —  that  is,  the  penalties 
still  obligatory  on  the  penitent — on  the  fulfillment  of 
ribed  conditions.  These  penalties  might  extend  into 
purgatory,  bui  tin-  indulgence  obliterated  them  all.  In 
the  thirteenth  century,  Alexander  of  Hales  and  Thomas 
Aquinas  sot  forth  tin-   theory  of  supererogatory  merits,  or 


luther's  theses.  93 

the  treasure  of  merit  bestowed  upon  the  Church  through 
Christ  unci  the  saints,  on  which  the  rulers  of  the  Church 
might  draw  for  the  benefit  of  the  less  worthy  and  more 
needy.  This  was  something  distinct  from  the  power  of 
the  keys,  the  power  to  grant  absolution,  which  inhered 
in  the  priesthood  alone.  The  eternal  punishment  of  mor- 
tal sin  being  remitted  or  commuted  by  the  absolution  of 
the  priest,  it  was  open  to  the  Pope  or  his  agents,  by  the 
grant  of  indulgences,  to  remit  the  temporal  or  terminable 
penalties  that  still  rested  on  the  head  of  the  transgressor. 
Thus  souls  might  be  delivered  forthwith  from  purgatorial 
fire.  Pope  Sixtus  IV.,  in  1477,  had  officially  declared 
that  souls  already  in  purgatory  are  emancipated  per 
modum  suffragii ;  that  is,  the  work  done  in  behalf  of 
them  operates  to  effect  their  release  in  a  way  analogous 
to  the  efficacy  of  prayer.  Nevertheless,  the  power  that 
was  claimed  over  the  dead,  was  not  practically  diminished 
by  this  restriction.  The  business  of  selling  indulgences 
had  grown  by  the  profitableness  of  it.  "  Every  where," 
says  Erasmus,  "  the  remission  of  purgatorial  torment  is 
sold  ;  nor  is  it  sold  only,  but  forced  upon  those  who  re- 
fuse it."  1  As  managed  by  Tetzel  and  the  other  emis- 
saries sent  out  to  collect  money  for  the  building  of  St. 
Peter's  Church,  the  indulgence  was  a  simple  bargain,  ac- 
cording to  which,  on  the  payment  of  a  stipulated  sum, 
the  individual  received  a  full  discharge  from  the  penalties 
of  sin  or  procured  the  release  of  a  soul  from  the  flames  of 
purgatory.  The  forgiveness  of  sins  was  offered  in  the 
market  for  money.  Against  this  lucrative  trade  Luther 
lifted  up  an  earnest  remonstrance.  The  doctrine  of  his 
theses  was  that  the  Pope  can  absolve  only  from  the  pun- 
ishments which  he  himself  imposes  ;  that  these  do  not 
reach  beyond  death  ;  moreover,  that  the  right  to  absolve 
pertains  to  bishops  and  pastors,  not  less  than  to  the  Pope ; 

1  Pnef.  J.  Epist.  Corinth.     Opera,  vii.  851.     The  Emperor  Maximilian  had 
first  resisted  and  then  patronized  the  traffic. 


'.<!  LXJTHEB    AND    THE    GERMAN   REFORMATION. 

thai  the  foundation  of  indulgences  is  in  the  power  of  the 
:  that  absolution  belongs  to  all  penitents,  but  is  not 
indispensable,  and  is  of  Less  account  than  works  of  piety 
and  mercy.  If  the  Pope  can  free  souls  from  purgatory, 
w\i\  qoI  deliver  them  all  at  once?  The  treasury  of 
merits  is  not  denied,  but  the  Pope  cannot  dispense  it  fur- 
ther than  he  holds  in  his  hand  the  intercessions  of  the 
Church.  The  real  and  true  treasure  of  the  Church  is 
asserted  to  be  tjie  gospel  of  grace.  If  the  Pope  knew 
what  extortion  is  practiced  by  the  preachers  of  indul- 
ge n  :es,  he  would  rather,  it  is  said,  see  St.  Peter's  Church 
reduced  to  ashes  than  built  up  out  of  the  bones  and  flesh 
of  the  lambs  of  his  flock.  The  theses  were  an  attack  on 
the  Thomist  theory  of  indulgences;  but  in  spirit,  though 
unconsciously  to  the  author,  they  struck  much  deeper.1 

No  one  can  reasonably  doubt  that  Luther's  conscience 

was  in  the  work  on  which  he  had  entered.     If  ever  a  man 

was  actuated  by  simple,  profound  convictions  of  duty,  it 

was  he.2     The  abuses  against  which  he  cried  out  were  so 

iniquitous  and  mischievous  in  his  eyes  that  he  could  not 

keep  silent.     He  had  no  ambition  to  gratify.     As  far  as 

his  earthly  prospects  were  concerned  he  had  nothing  to 

gain,  hut  apparently,  in  case  he  persevered,  everything  to 

H"  had  ""  thought  of  throwing  oif  his  allegiance 

to   fche   Roman    Church.     At  a  later  time  he  said  of  the 

:  ••  I  allow  these  propositions  to  stand,  that  by  them 

it  may  appear  how  weak  I  was,  and  in  how  fluctuating  a 

state  of  mind   I  was  when  I  began  this  business.     I  was 

then  a   monk,  and  a   mad  papist;  ready  to  murder  any 

m   who  denied  obedience  to  the  Pope."  3      He  had 

1  Fori  literal  copy  of  the  theses,  see  Etanke,  vi.  80;  Loscher,  Reformations- 
",7'">  '•  ■,:;s-  They  are  [riven  in  German  by  Wearer,  Luther's  Leben,  p.  75. 
;  r  speaks  of  lii>  motives  in  a  letter  to  the  Bishop  of  Merseburg  (Feb.  4, 
1  ■'•-'  '  ;  ''•  Wette,  i.  L02.  Hie  course,  he  says,  would  be  that  of  a  madman  if 
be  were  actuated  by  worldly  motives.  See  also,  De  Wette,  iii.  215  (Letter  to 
Melancthon):  "Gloria  mea  est  bsec  una,  quod  verbum  Dei  pure  tradidi,  nee 
adulteravi  alio  studio  glorise  aul  opulentise." 

■  "/"'••  U&46.       II. .    following  year  (May  30,  1518),  in  his  letter  to 


LUTHER'S   THESES.  95 

embraced  with  his  whole  soul  a  truth  whicli  he  knew  to 
be  in  the  Scriptures,  but  where  it  would  lead  him  he 
could  not  anticipate.  He  was  still  an  obedient  son  of  the 
Church.  His  theses  were  propositions  for  dispute  ;  they 
concluded  with  the  sincere  and  solemn  declaration  that  he 
affirmed  nothing,  but  left  everything  to  the  judgment  of 
the  Church.  What  he  would  do  in  case  the  Church 
should  declare  against  him,  and  forbid  him  to  teach  what 
he  knew  to  be  the  Gospel ;  what  course  he  would  take 
when  the  alternative  should  be  presented  of  giving  up  a 
truth  which  stood  in  letters  of  light  on  the  page  of  Scrip- 
ture and  had  imprinted  itself  on  his  soul,  or  of  renouncing 
an  allegiance  in  which  he  had  grown  up,  the  obligation  to 
which  he  had  never  found  occasion  to  doubt  —  this  was 
a  question  which  did  not  occur  to  him.  This  portion 
of  the  career  of  Luther  is  intelligible  only  when  we  re- 
member that  the  incompatibleness  of  the  traditional  view 
of  Church  authority  with  his  interpretation  of  the  Gospel 
was  something  that  he  discovered  by  degrees,  and  that 
was  forced  upon  him  by  the  actual  treatment  which  his 
doctrine  received  from  the  ecclesiastical  rulers.  Nothing 
but  his  intense,  living  belief  respecting  the  nature  of  the 
Gospel  could  have  sufficed  to  neutralize  and  at  last  over- 
come his  established  deference  for  Church  superiors. 
"  O  !  "  he  exclaims,  "  with  what  anxiety  and  labor,  with 
what  searching  of  the  Scriptures,  have  I  justified  myself 
in  conscience,  in  standing  up  alone  against  the  Pope  !  " 

The  theses  were  designed  to  subserve  an  immediate, 
local  end,  but  they  kindled  a  commotion  over  all  Ger- 
many. Both  the  religious  and  political  opponents  of  the 
trade  in  indulgences  greeted  so  able  and  gallant  a  spokes- 
man.1    "  No  one,"  says  Luther,  "  would  bell  the  cats  ; 

Leo  X.,  covering  the  Resolutiones  of  the  theses,  he  says,  in  connection  with 
other  expressions  of  spiritual  allegiance:  "  Vocem  tiiam,  vocem  Christi,  in  te 
possidentis  et  loquentis  agnoscam."     De  Wette,  i.  122. 

1  "  Et  fovebat  me  utcumque  aura  ista  popularis,  quod  invisse  jam  essent  om- 
nibus artes  et  Romanationcs  ill.v,  quibus  totum  orbem  impleverant  et  fatigaver- 
ant."     Prcef.  Operum  (1545), 


96       LUTHER  AND  THE  GERMAN  REFORMATION. 

for  the  heresy-masters  of  the  Preaching  Order  had  driven 
.-ill  the  world  to  terror  by  their  fires."1  "Thanks  be  to 
God,"  exclaimed  Reuchlin,  "the  monks  have  now  found 
a  man  who  will  give  them  such  full  employment  that 
they  will  be  glad  to  leave  my  old  age  to  pass  away  in 
."'  -  Maximilian  was  not  sorry  to  see  the  theses  ap- 
pear.  Erasmus  was  at  heart  glad  that  a  new  and  vigorous 
antagonist  of  superstition  had  stepped  into  the  arena.  But 
opponents  quickly  appeared;  Sylvester  Prierias,  Master 
of  the  Palace  at  Rome,  offended  that  his  Dominican 
order  should  meet  with  a  rebuff  from  so  insignificant  a 
quarter;  Tetzel  himself,  whose  counter-theses  gained  for 
him  at  once  a  doctorate  ;  Dr.  John  Eck,  an  expert,  well- 
read,  ambitious  theological  disputant,  who  welcomed  so 
fair  an  occasion  to  signalize  himself.3  Luther  left  none 
of  tin im  unanswered.  Their  appeals  to  human  authority 
led  him  to  plant  himself  more  distinctly  on  the  Serip- 
tures;  and  the  defense  of  the  detestable  practices  which 
he  had  assailed,  inflamed  his  indignation  still  more  against 
them.  Then  follows  his  summons  to  Rome,  which  is 
modified,  at  the  request  of  his  noble-hearted  protector, 
Frederic  the  Wise,  whom  Leo  X.,  for  political  reasons, 
was  anxious  at  that  moment  to  conciliate,  into  a  summons 
i  i  Augsburg  to  meet  the  legate,  Cajetan  (1518).  Luther 
found  him  supercilious,  "  a  complete  Italian  and  Thomist," 
who  would  have  no  discussion,  and  whose  requirement 
that  Luther  slu.uld  retract  his  opinions,  was  met  with  a 
civil  but  decided  refusal.  "  I  will  not,"  wrote  Luther  to 
Oarlstadt,  "become  a  heretic  by  denying  the  truth  by 
which  I  became  a  Christian:  sooner  will  I  die,  be  burnt, 
be  banished,  be  anathematized."4  He  left  the  cardinal, to 
whom  his  dark,  glistening  eyes  were  nowise  agreeable, 
;i"(l  appealed  from  the  Tope  ill-informed  to  the  same  bet- 

1  Gieseler,  iv.  i.  i,§  l,  o.  L6. 

-  Waddington,  History  of  the  Reformation,  i.  98. 

>  These  documents  are  in  Loscher,  Reformationsacten,  ii. 

*  Letter  to  Carl  U,  1518),  De  Wette,  i.  161. 


THE   LKIPSIC   DISPUTATION.  97 

ter-informed.1  When  a  bull  was  issued  from  Rome,  as- 
serting the  doctrine  as  to  indulgences,  which  Luther  had 
impugned,  he  published  his  appeal  from  the  Pope  to  a 
general  council.  Still  he  looked  for  a  recognition  of  the 
truth  from  the  authorities  of  the  Church.  Miltitz,  the 
second  messenger  from  the  papal  court,  a  Saxon  by  birth, 
conciliatory  in  manner,  and  professing  a  sympathy  with 
Luther  in  his  hatred  of  the  worst  abuses  of  the  vendors 
of  indulgences,  actually  persuaded  him  to  abstain  from 
further  combat  on  the  subject,  provided  his  opponents 
would  also  remain  silent.2  But  this  truce  was  quickly 
broken  by  the  challenge  of  Eck  to  a  public  disputation  on 
free-will  and  grace,  topics  on  which  he  had  before  debated 
with  Carlstadt,  one  of  the  theological  professors  at  Wit- 
tenberg ;  and  by  the  programme  which  Eck  put  forth, 
much  to  the  surprise  of  Luther,  in  which  his 'opinions 
were  directly  assailed.  In  the  open  wagon  which  con- 
veyed Luther  to  Leipsic  to  attend  the  disputation,  there 
sat  by  his  side  Philip  Melancthon,  a  young  man  of  twen- 
ty-two, of  precocious  talents  and  ripe  scholarship,  whom 
his  grand-uncle,  Reuchlin,  had  recommended  to  the  Elec- 
tor as  Professor  of  Greek,  and  sent  to  Wittenberg  with  a 
glowing  prophecy  of  the  eminence  that  awaited  him.3 
At  the  age  of  twenty  his  powers  and  his  scholarship  were 
alike  mature.     Unlike  Luther  in  his  temperament,  they 

1  Letter  to  Cajetan  (Oct.  18,  1518),  De  Wette,  i.  164. 

2  Luther  did  not  believe  in  the  sincerity  of  Miltitz's  warm  demonstrations. 
He  speaks  of  his  "  Italities  and  simulations" —  "Italitates  ct  simulationes." 
Letter  to  Staupitz  (Feb.  20,  1519),  De  Wette,  i.  281.  See  also  the  Letter  to 
Egranus  (Feb.  2,  1519),  De  Wette,  i.  216. 

3  Reuchlin  to  Melancthon,  Corpus  Re/.,  i.  33.  Reuchlin  applies  to  him  the 
promise  to  Abraham  (Gen.  xii.):  "Ita  mihi  proesagit  animus,  ita  spero  futu- 
rum  de  te,  mi  Philippe,  meum  opus  etmeum  solatium."  Molanethon's original 
name  was  Schwarzerd,  which,  according  to  the  prevailing  custom,  he  rendered 
into  Greek.  To  render  proper  names  into  Greek  or  Latin  was  usual  with 
scholars.  Thus  Hausschein  became  OEcolampadius;  Schneider  —  i.  e.,  Korn- 
schneider  —  was  transformed  into  Agricola.  Johannes  Krachemberger  wrote 
to  Reuchlin  to  furnish  him  with  a  Greek  equivalent  for  his  not  very  euphonious 
name.     Von  Raumer,  Geschichte  tier  Pcedagogik,  i.  129. 

7 


98       LUTHER  AND  THE  GERMAN  REFORMATION. 

were  the  counterparts  of  each  other.  Melancthon  found 
nst  and  support  iii  the  robust  nature,  the  intrepid  spirit 
of  Luther ;  Luther  admired,  in  turn,  the  fine  but  cautious 
intellect,  and  the  exact  and  ample  learning  of  Melancthon. 
Each  lent  to  the  other  the  most  effective  assistance.  So 
intimate  is  their  friendship  that  Luther  dares  to  get  hold 
of  the  manuscript  commentaries  of  his  young  associate, 
whose  modesty  kept  them  from  the  press,  and  to  send 
them,  without  the  author's  knowledge,  to  the  printer.1 
4t  This  little  Greek,"  said  Luther,  "  surpasses  me  in  the- 
ology, too."  By  his  commentary  on  the  Epistle  to  the 
Romans,  Melancthon  laid  the  foundation  of  the  Protes- 
tant exegesis  ;  and  his  doctrinal  treatise,  the  "  Loci  Com- 
munes," won  for  him  a  like  distinction  in  this  department 
of  theology. 

The  disputation  at  Leipsic  went  on  for  a  week  between 
( Jarlstadt  and  Eck,  on  the  intricate  themes  of  free-will  and 
grace,  in  which  the  former  defended  the  Augustinian  and 
the  latter  the  semi-Pelagian  side,  and  in  which  the  fluency 
and  adroitness  of  Eck  shone  to  advantage  in  comparison 
with  his  less  facile  adversary.  Then  Luther  ascended  the 
platform.  He  was  in  the  prime  of  life,  in  his  thirty-sixth 
year,  of  middling  height,  at  that  time  thin  in  person,  and 
with  a  clear,  melodious  voice.  It  is  a  fact  not  without 
interest  thai  he  carried  in  his  hand  a  nosegay  of  flowers.2 
He  t«>ok  delight  in  nature  —  in  the  sky,  the  blossoms, 
and  birds.  In  the  midst  of  his  great' conflict  he  would 
turn  for  recreation  to  his  garden,  and  correspond  with  his 
friends  about  the  seeds  and  utensils  that  he  wanted  to 
1  >i-<  «ure  e  >r  it  .3     At  home  and  with  his  friends  he  was  full 

1  Letter  to  Melancthon,  De  Wette,  ii.  238.     See  also  ii.  303. 

-  h.ran  Interesting  description  of  Luther,  as  he  appeared  in  this  Disputation, 
from  the  pen  of  Petrua  Mosellanas,  Bee  Waddington,  i.  130.  See  also  Ranke, 
I),  utsch.  Gaek.,  i.  281       It  lasted  from  June  27,  to  July  16,  1519. 

•  While  Satan  with  bis  members  is  raging,  I  will  laugh  at  him  and  will  at- 
tend to  my  gardens,  thai  is,  the  blessings  of  the  Creator,  and  enjoy  them, 
praisin-  him.  Letter  to  Wenc.  Link.  (Dec.  1525),  De  Wette,  iii.  58  See  aUo 
iii.  172. 


THE   LEIPSIC   DISPUTATION.  99 

of  humor,  was  enthusiastically  fond  of  music,  and  played 
with  skill  on  the  lute  and  the  flute  ;  in  his  natural  con- 
stitution the  very  opposite  of  an  ascetic.1  His  powerful 
mind  —  for  he  was,  probably,  the  ablest  man  of  his  time 
—  was  connected  with  a  child-like  freshness  of  feeling, 
and  a  large,  generous  sympathy  with  human  nature  in  all 
its  innocent  manifestations. 

Standing  before  Duke  George,  who  proved  to  be  a  de- 
cided enemy  of  the  Reformation,  and  before  the  auditory 
who  sat  with  him,  Luther  discussed  with  his  opponent  the 
primacy  of  the  Pope.  In  the  course  of  the  colloquy  he  de- 
clared that  the  headship  of  the  Pope  is  not  indispensable ; 
that  the  Oriental  Church  is  a  true  Church,  without  the 
Pope  ;  that  the  primacy  is  of  human  and  not  of  divine  ap- 
pointment. Startling  as  these  propositions  were,  they  were 
less  so  than  was  his  avowal,  in  response  to  an  inquiry, 
that  among  the  articles  for  which  John  Huss  had  been 
condemned  at  the  Council  of  Constance,  there  were  some 
that  were  thoroughly  Christian  and  evangelical.  A  feel- 
ing of  amazement  ran  through  the  assembly,  and  an 
audible  expression  of  surprise  and  anger  broke  from  the 
lips  of  the  Duke.2 

The  Disputation  at  Leipsic,  by  stimulating  Luther  to 
further  studies  into  the  origin  of  the  Papacy  and  into  the 
character  of  Huss  and  of  his  opinions,  brought  his  mind 
to  a  more  decided  renunciation  of  human  authority,  and 
to  a  growing  suspicion  that  the  papal  rule  was  a  usurpa- 
tion in  the  Church  and  a  hateful  tyranny.3  Up  to  this 
time  his  attempt  had  been  to  influence  the  ecclesiastical 
rulers ;  now  he  turned  to  the  people.     His  "  Address  to 

1  But  he  was  abstemious  in  food  and  drink;  "  valde  modici  cibi  et  potus," 
says  Melancthon.  Often  for  many  consecutive  days  he  would  take  only  a  little 
broad  and  fish.      Vita  Lutheri,  v. 

2  Ranke,  i.  279  seq. 

3  Before  the  Disputation  at  Leipsic,  he  wrote  to  Spalatin  (March  13,  1519): 
"Verso  et  decrcta  Pontificium,  pro  mea  disputatione,  et  (inaurem  tibi  loquor) 
ne*tio  an  Papa  sit  Antichristus  ipse  vel  apostolus  ejus:  adeo  misere  corrumpitur 
et  cnicifi^it ur  Christus  (id  est  Veritas)  ab  eo  in  docretis."     De  Wette,  i.  238. 


100      LUTHER  AND  THE  GERMAN  REFORMATION. 

'  <  'iiristian  Nobles  of  the  German  Nation  "  was  a  ring- 
in-  appeal  to  the  German  laity  to  take  the  work  of  refor- 
matioD  into  their  own  hands,  to  protect  the  German 
people  against  the  avarice  and  tyrannical  intermeddling 
of  tli.'  Roman  ecclesiastics,  to  deprive  the  Pope  of  his  rule 
i  1 1 1 ;  t  r  a  IT;  i  i  rs,  to  abolish  compulsory  celibacy,  to  reform 

the  convents  and  restrain  the  mendicant  orders,  to  come  to 
a  reconciliation  with  the  Bohemians,  to  foster  education. 
In  this  harangue  Luther  strikes  a  blow  at  the  distinction 
between  layman  and  priest,  on  which  the  hierarchical 
system  rested.  "  We  have  one  baptism  and  one  faith," 
he  savs,  "  and  it  is  that  which  constitutes  a  spiritual  per- 
son." He  compares  the  Church  to  ten  sons  of  a  king 
who,  having  equal  rights,  choose  one  of  their  number  to 
be  the  "  minister  of  their  common  power."  A  company 
of  pious  laymen  in  a  desert,  having  no  ordained  priest 
among  them, would  have  the  right  to  confer  that  office  on 
one  of  themselves,  whether  he  were  married  or  not ;  and 
"  the  man  so  chosen  would  be  as  truly  a  priest  as  if  all 
the  bishops  in  the  world  had  consecrated  him."  The 
priestly  character  of  a  layman  and  the  importance  of  edu- 
cation are  the  leading  topics  in  this  stirring  appeal.  His 
treatise  on  the  Babylonian  Captivity  of  the  Church  fol- 
lowed, in  which  he  handled  the  subject  of  the  sacraments, 
attacked  transubstantiation,  and  the  statutes  that  violated 
Christian  liberty,  such  as  those  which  prescribed  pilgrim- 
Eastings,  and  monasticism.  He  had  discovered  the 
connection  between  the  doctrinal  and  practical  abuses 
«>f  the  ( 'liuivh.1  This  discourse  he  sent  to  Leo  X.,  with  a 
i  containing  expressions  of  personal  respect,  but  com- 
paring   him   to   a   lamb  in   the   midst  of  wolves  and  to 

Daniel  among  the  linns,  and  invoking  him  to  set  about  a 
work  of  reformation  in  his  corrupt  court  and  in  the 
Church.9 

1  WiMfcdingtOD,  i.  2G7. 

2  Luther  seems  to   have  entertained,  up  to  this  time,  a  personal  regard  and 


THE    BULL   OF   EXCOMMUNICATION.  101 

In  a  sermon  on  "  The  Freedom  of  a  Christian  Man," 
Luther  set  forth  in  a  noble  and  elevated  strain  the  in- 
wardness of  true  religion,  the  marriage  of  the  soul  to 
Christ  through  faith  in  the  Word,  and  the  vital  connec- 
tion of  faith  and  works.  In  this  treatise  he  rises  above 
the  atmosphere  of  controversy,  and  unfolds  his  idea  of 
Christianity  in  the  genial  tone  of  devout  feeling. 

His  course  during  the  period  between  the  posting  of 
the  theses  and  the  final  breach  with  Rome,  can  be  judged 
correctly  only  when  it  is  remembered  that  his  mind  was 
in  a  transition  state.  He  was  working  his  way  by  de- 
grees to  the  light.  This  explains  the  seeming  inconsis- 
tencies in  his  expressions  relative  to  the  Pope  and  the 
Church,  which  occasionally  appear  in  his  letters  and  pub- 
lications during  this  interval.  "  I  am  one  of  those,"  he 
said,  "  among  whom  Augustine  has  classed  himself  —  of 
those  who  have  gradually  advanced  by  writing  and 
teaching  ;  not  of  those  who  at  a  single  bound  spring  to 
perfection  out  of  nothing."  2 

The  Bull  which  condemned  forty-one  propositions  of 
Luther,  and  excommunicated  him  if  he  should  not  recant 
within  sixty  days,  after  which  every  Christian  magistrate 
was  to  be  required  to  arrest  him  and  deliver  him  at 
Rome,  was  issued  on  the  16th  of  June,  1520.  Luther  put 
forth  a  pamphlet  in  response  to  this  execrable  bull  of 
Antichrist,  as  he  called  it ;  and  on  the  10th  of  December, 
in  the  public  place  at  Wittenberg,  in  the  presence  of  an 
assembly  of  doctors  of  the  university,  students,  and 
people,  he  threw  it,  together  with  the  book  of  canon  law, 
and  a  few  other  equally  obnoxious  writings,  into  the 
flames.     By  this  act  he  completed  his  rupture  with  the 

respect  for  Leo,  but  the  intermingling  of  personal  compliments  with  denun- 
ciations of  his  court  and  of  the  Roman  Church  (which  is  styled  "a  licentiou-; 
den  of  robbers  ")  was  ill-adapted  to  conciliate  the  Pope's  favor. 

1  Prmf.  Operum:  "Qui  de  nihilo  repente  fiunt  summi,  cum  nihil  sint,  neque 
operati,  neque  tentati,  neque  experti." 


10*2  LUTHER    AND   THE    GERMAN   REFORMATION. 

Papal  Bee.     There  was  no  longer  room  for  retreat.     He 
bud  burned  his  ships  behind  him.1 

This  derisive  step  <lre\v  the  attention  of  the  whole  Ger- 
man nation  to  Luther's  cause,  and  tended  to  concentrate 
all  the  various  elements  of  opposition  to  the  Papacy.2 
Luther  found  political  support  in  the  friendly  disposition 
of  the  Elector,  and  from  the  jurists  with  whom  the  con- 
flict of  the  spiritual  with  the  civil  courts  was  a  standing 
grievance.  The  Papal  Bull  was  extensively  regarded  as 
a  new  infringement  of  the  rights  of  the  civil  power. 
The  religious  opposition  to  the  Papacy,  which  had  been 
quickened  by  Luther's  theological  writings,  and  which 
found  an  inspiring  ground  of  union  in  his  appeal  to  the 
Divine  Word  and  in  his  arraignment  of  the  Pope  as  an 
opposer  of  it,  engaged  the  sympathy  of  a  large  portion  of 
the  inferior  clersrv  and  of  the  monastic  orders.  Luther 
also  found  zealous  allies  in  the  literary  class.  The 
Humanists  were  either  quiet,  laborious  scholars,  who  ap- 
plied their  researches  in  philosophy  and  classical  literature 
to  the  illustration  of  the  Scriptures  and  the  defense  of 
Scriptural  truth  against  human  traditions,  of  whom 
Melancthon  was  a  type;  or  they  were  poets,  filled  with 
a  national  spirit,  eager  to  avenge  the  indignities  suf- 
fer ed  by  Germany  under  Italian  and  Papal  rule,  and 
ready  not  only  to  vindicate  their  cause  with  invectives 
and  satires,  but  also  with  their  swords.  These  were  the 
combatants  for  Reuchlin  against  the  Dominican  persecu- 
tion ;  the  authors  of  the  "Epistolae  Obscurorum  Virorum." 
Luther,  with  his  deeply  religious  feeling,  had  not  liked 
>ne  of  these  productions.  Ulrich  von  Hutten,  one 
of  the  writers,  the  most  prominent  representative  of  the 
youthful  literati,  to  whom  we  have  just  referred,  had  not 
been  interested  at  first  in  the  affair  of  Luther,  which  he 
regarded  as  a  monkish  and  theological  dispute.  But  he 
soon  divined   its  true  character  and  wide-reaching  scope, 

1  Strauss,  Ulrich  con  Hutten,  p.  397.  a  See  Ranke,  i.  307  seq. 


POLITICAL    CONDITION   OF    GERMANY.  103 

and  became  one  of  the  Reformer's  most  ardent  support- 
ers. He  seconded  Luther's  religious  appeals  by  scatter- 
ing broadcast  his  own  caustic  philippics  and  satires,  in 
which  the  Pope  and  his  agents  and  abettors  in  Germany 
were  lashed  with  unbridled  severity.  Abandoning  the 
Latin,  the  proper  tongue  of  the  Humanists,  he  began 
to  write  in  the  vernacular.  Hutten  enlisted  his  friend 
Francis  von  Sickingen,  another  patriotic  knight,  and  the 
most  noted  of  the  class  who  offered  themselves  to  redress 
wrongs  by  exploits  and  incursions  undertaken  by  their 
own  authority,  often  to  the  terror  of  those  who  were  thus 
assailed.  Sickingen  sent  to  Luther  an  invitation,  in  case 
he  needed  a  place  of  refuge,  to  come  to  his  strong  castle 
of  Ebernburg.1 

We  must  pause  here  to  look  for  a  moment  at  the  polit- 
ical condition  of  Germany.  In  the  fifteenth  century  the 
central  government  had  become  so  weakened,  that  the 
Empire  existed  more  in  name  than  in  reality.  Germany 
was  an  aggregate  of  numerous  small  states,  each  of 
which  was,  to  a  great  extent,  independent  within  its  own 
bounds.  The  German  king  having  held  the  imperial 
office  for  so  many  centuries,  the  two  stations  were  practi- 
cally regarded  as  inseparable  ;  but  neither  as  king  of  Ger- 
many nor  as  the  head  of  the  Holy  Roman  Empire,  had  he 
sufficient  power  to  preserve  order  among  the  states  or  to 
combine  them  in  common  enterprises  of  defense  or  of 
aggression.  By  the  golden  bull  of  Charles  IV.,  in  1356, 
the  electoral  constitution  was  denned  and  settled,  by 
which  the  predominance  of  power  was  left  in  the  hands 
of  the  seven  leading  princes  to  whom  the  choice  of  the 
Emperor  was  committed.  No  measures  affecting  the 
common  welfare  could  be  adopted  except  by  the  consent 
of  the  Diet,  a  body  composed  of  the  electors,  the  princes, 
and  the  cities.     Private  wars  were  of  frequent  occurrence 

1  See  the  very  interesting  biography  by  D.  F.  Strauss,  Ulrich  von  Hutten 
(2d  ed.,  1871). 


104      LUTHER  AND  THE  GERMAN  REFORMATION. 

between  the  component  parts  of  the  country.  They 
might  enter  separately  into  foreign  alliances.  During 
the  reign  of  Maximilian  great  efforts  were  made  to  estab- 
lish a  better  constitution,  but  they  mostly  fell  to  the 
ground  in  consequence  of  the  mutual  unwillingness  of 
the  states  and  the  Emperor  that  either  party  should  ex- 
ercise power.  The  Public  Peace  and  the  Imperial  Cham- 
ber were  constituted,  the  former  for  the  prevention  of 
intestine  war,  and  the  latter  a  supreme  judicial  tribunal; 
but  neither  of  these  measures  was  more  than  partially 
successful.  The  failure  to  create  a  better  organization 
for  the  Empire  increased  the  ferment,  for  which  there 
were  abundant  causes  prior  to  these  abortive  attempts. 
The  efforts  of  the  princes  to  increase  their  power  within 
their  several  principalities  brought  on  quarrels  with 
bishops  and  knights,  whose  traditional  privileges  were 
curtailed.  Especially  among  the  knights  a  mutinous 
feeling  was  everywhere  rife,  which  often  broke  forth  in 
deeds  of  violence  and  even  in  open  warfare.  The  cities 
complained  of  the  oppression  which  they  had  to  endure 
from  the  imperial  government  and  of  the  wrongs  inflicted 
upon  them  by  the  princes  and  by  the  knights.  Thriving 
communities  of  tradesmen  and  artisans  invited  hostility 
from  every  quarter.  The  heavy  burdens  of  taxation,  the 
insecurity  of  travel  and  of  commerce,  were  for  them  an 
intolerable  grievance.  At  the  same  time,  all  over  Ger- 
many, the  rustic  population,  on  account  of  the  hardship 
of  fcheir  situation,  were  in  a  state  of  disaffection  which 
might  at  any  moment  burst  forth  in  a  formidable  rebel- 
lion. In  addition  to  all  these  troubles  and  grievances, 
the  extortions  of  Roi  no  had  stirred  up  a  general  feeling 
of  indignation.1  Vast  sums  of  money,  the  fruit  of  taxa- 
tion or  the  price  of  the  virtual  sale  of  Church  offices, 
w,,,v  carried  out  of  the  country  to  replenish  the  coffers 
of  the  Pope. 

1  Ranke,  i.  132  seq. 


CHARLES    V.    ELECTED   EMPEROR.  105 

On  the  death  of  Maximilian  (January  12,  1519),  the 
principal  aspirants  for  the  succession,  were  Charles,  the 
youthful  King  of  Spain,  and  Francis  I.,  the  King  of 
France.  Charles,  who  was  the  grandson  of  Maximilian, 
and  the  son  of  Philip  and  of  Joanna,  the  daughter  of  Fer- 
dinand and  Isabella,  inherited  Austria  and  the  Low  Coun- 
tries, the  crowns  of  Castile  and  Aragon,  of  Navarre,  of 
Naples  and  Sicily,  together  with  the  vast  territories  of 
Spain  in  the  New  AVorld.  The  Electors  offered  the  im- 
perial office  to  Frederic  of  Saxony,  a  prince  held  in 
universal  esteem  for  his  wisdom  and  high  character  ;  but 
he  judged  that  the  resources  at  his  command  were  not 
sufficient  to  enable  him  to  govern  the  Empire  with  effi- 
ciency, and  cast  his  influence  with  decisive  effect  in  favor 
of  Charles.  The  despotism  of  the  French  King  was 
feared,  and  Charles  was  preferred,  partly  because,  from 
the  situation  of  his  hereditary  dominions  in  Germany 
and  from  the  extent  of  his  power,  it  was  thought  that 
he  would  prove  the  best  defender  of  the  Empire  against 
the  Turks.  But  the  princes  took  care,  in  the  "  capitu- 
lation "  which  accompanied  the  election  of  Charles,  to 
interpose  safeguards  against  encroachments  on  the  part 
of  the  new  Emperor.  He  promised  not  to  make  war  or 
peace,  or  to  put  any  state  under  the  ban  of  the  Empire 
without  the  assent  of  the  Diet ;  that  he  would  give  the 
public  offices  into  the  hands  of  Germans,  fix  his  resi- 
dence in  Germany,  and  not  bring  foreign  troops  into  the 
country. 

The  concentration  of  so  much  power  in  a  single  indi- 
vidual excited  general  alarm.  Such  an  approach  to  a 
universal  monarchy  had  not  been  seen  in  Europe  since  the 
days  of  Charlemagne.  The  independence  of  all  other  king- 
doms would  seem  to  be  put  in  peril.  It  was  reasonably 
feared  that  Charles  would  avail  himself  of  his  vast  strength 
to  restore  the  Empire  to  its  ancient  limits,  and  to  revive 
its  claim   to   supremacy.       This    apprehension,  of  itself, 


106  LUTHEB    AND   THE    GERMAN    REFORMATION. 

would  aceounl  for  the  hostility  of  Francis,  apart  from  his 
personal  disappointment  at  the  result  of  the  imperial 
election.  But  there  were  particular  causes  of  disagree- 
ment between  the  rival  monarchs  which  could  not  fail  to 
produ  >e  an  open  rupture.  In  behalf  of  the  Empire,  Charles 
claimed  Lombardy  and  especially  Milan,  together  with 
a  portion  of  Southern  France  —  the  old  kingdom  of  Bur- 
gundy or  Aries.  As  the  heir  of  the  dukes  of  Burgundy, 
he  claimed  the  parts  of  the  old  dukedom  which  had  been 
incorporated  in  France,  after  the  death  of  Charles  the 
Bold.  It  had  been  the  ambition  of  France,  since  the 
expedition  of  Charles  VIII.,  to  establish  its  power  in 
ftaly.  Francis,  besides  his  determination  to  cling  to  the 
conquests  which  he  had  already  made,  claimed  Naples  in 
virtue  of  the  rights  of  the  house  of  Anjou,  which  had 
reverted  to  the  French  crown;  he  claimed  also  Spanish 
Navarre,  which  had  been  seized  by  Ferdinand,  and  the 
suzerainty  of  Flanders  and  Artois.  The  scene,  as  well 
as  the  main  prize  of  the  conflict,  was  to  be  in  Northern 
Italy.  The  preponderance  of  strength  was  not  so  de- 
cidedly on  the  side  of  Charles  as  might  at  first  appear. 
The  Turks  perpetually  menaced  the  eastern  frontiers  of 
liis  hereditary  German  dominions,  which  were  given  over 
to  Ferdinand  his  brother.  His  territories  were  widely 
separated  from  one  another,  not  only  in  space,  but  also  in 
language,  Local  institutions,  and  customs.  Several  of  the 
countries  over  which  he  reigned  were  in  a  state  of  internal 
confusion.  This  was  true  of  Spain,  as  well  as  of  Ger- 
man;, . 

For  months  after  the  death  of  Maximilian,  the  Empire 
withoul  ahead.  Frederic  of  Saxony,  who  was  dis- 
i  to  protecl  rather  than  repress  the  movement  of 
Luther,  was  regent  in  Northern  Germany.  Had  he  been 
in  middle  Life  and  been  endued  with  an  energy  equal  to 
his  Bagacity  and  excellence,  he  might  have  complied  with 
the  preference  of  the  electors  and  have  placed  himself  at 


CHARACTER    OF    CHARLES    V.  107 

the  head  of  the  German  nation,  which  was  now  conscious 
of  the  feeling  of  nationality,  and  full  of  aspirations  after 
unity  and  reform.1 

Charles  V.  was  not  the  man  to  assume  such  a  position. 
He  developed  a  tenacity  of  purpose,  a  restless  activity, 
and  a  far-sighted  calculation,  which  were  far  in  advance  of 
the  expectations  entertained  respecting  him  in  his  early 
youth.  But  his  whole  history  shows  that  he  had  no  ade- 
quate appreciation  of  the  moral  force  of  Protestantism. 
His  personal  sympathies  were  with  the  old  system  in 
which  he  had  been  educated,  and  this  was  more  and  more 
the  case  in  the  latter  part  of  his  career.  But  apart  from 
his  own  opinions  and  predilections,  his  position  as  ruler 
of  Spain,  where  the  most  bigoted  type  of  Catholicism 
prevailed,  would  have  the  effect  to  prevent  him  from 
severing  his  connection  with  the  Roman  Church.  More- 
over,  the  whole  idea  of. the  Empire,  as  it  lay  in  his  mind 
and  as  it  was  involved  in  all  his  ambitious  schemes,  pre- 
supposed the  unity  of  the  Church  and  union  with  the 
Papacy.  The  sacred  character,  the  peculiar  supremacy 
of  the  Empire,  rested  upon  the  conception  that  it  was 
more  than  the  kingdom  of  Germany,  more  than  a  German 
empire,  that  it  was  the  ally  and  protector  of  the  entire 
Catholic  Church.  Germany  was  regarded  by  Charles  V. 
as  only  one  of  the  countries  over  which  he  ruled.  The 
peculiar  interests  of  Germany  were  subordinate,  in  his 
thoughts,  to  the  more  comprehensive  schemes  of  political 
aggrandizement  to  which  his  life  was  devoted.  He  acted 
in  the  affair  of  the  Reformation  from  political  motives. 
These,  at  least,  were  uppermost ;  and  accordingly  his  con- 
duct varied  to  conform  to  the  interest  of  the  hour.  He 
might  deplore  the  rise  and  progress  of  Lutheranism,  but 
he  desired  still  less  the  success  of  Francis  I.  in  the  Italian 
peninsula.  Moreover,  in  carrying  out  his  plans  for  him- 
self, and  for  the  realization  of  the  idea  of  the  Empire,  he 

1  Biyce,  Iloly  Roman  Empire,  p.  315. 


108      LUTHER  AND  THE  GERMAN  REFORMATION. 

mighi  fall  into  conflict  with  the  head  of  the  Church.  The 
old  contest  of  pope  and  emperor  might  be  revived.  This 
was  the  more  liable  to  occur  in  a  period  when  the  popes 
were  anxiously  laboring  for  their  own  temporal  power, 
and  for  the  advancement  of  their  relatives,  in  Italy.  A 
combination  of  all  the  forces  opposed  to  the  new  doctrine 
might  suffice  to  crush  it.  But  would  this  combination  be 
effected  ?  In  addition  to  the  jealousies  that  existed  be- 
tween the  principal  potentates,  the  Emperor,  the  Pope,  and 
the  King  of  France,  divisions  might  easily  arise  among  the 
Catholic  princes  in  Germany,  from  the  fear,  for  example, 
of  the  increasing  power  of  the  house  of  Austria.  In  addi- 
tion to  the  conflicting  interests  out  of  which  the  Lutheran 
movement  might  find  its  profit,  Germany  and  the  shores 
of  the  Mediterranean  were  incessantly  threatened  by  the 
Turks.  It  might  be  impracticable  to  persecute  the  dis- 
ciples of  the  new  doctrine,  and  at  the  same  time  secure 
their  help  against  the  common  enemy  of  Christendom. 

When  Charles  V.  first  arrived  in  Germany,  he  had 
reasons  for  cooperating  with  the  Pope,  and  when  this  was 
the  case  his  own  preferences  seconded  the  motive  of  pol- 
icy. Yet  Luther  and  the  Lutheran  cause  had  attracted  a 
religious  and  national  sympathy  that  was  too  strong  to 
permit  him  to  be  condemned  by  the  Emperor  without  a 
hearing.  A  less  summary  course  must  be  taken  than 
that  which  the  papal  party  urged  upon  him.1  Hence  the 
summons  which  Luther  received  to  appear  and  answer 
for  himself  at  (lie  Diet  of  Worms.  In  this  summons  he 
recognized  a  call  of  God  to  give  testimony  to  the  truth. 
As  tie  made  his  journey  in  the  farmer's  wagon  —  when 
he  went  to  Augsburg  to  meet  Cajetan,  he  had  worn  a 
borrowed  coat  —  he  was  an  object  of  universal  interest 
and  attention.     At  Erfurt,  the  University  went  out  in  a 

1  Of  the  two  iniii.  i«.s  who  were  sent  to  the  imperial  court,  Caraccioli  and 
Aleander,  the  latter  was  most  distinguished.  lie  figured  in  the  Diet  of 
Worms.  Of  him  Luther  lias  given  a  sarcastic  description,  which  is  quoted  by 
Seckendorf,  lib.  i.,  sen.  ;i4.  $  SI. 


THE    DIET    OF   WORMS.  109 

procession  to  meet  him,  some  on  horseback,  with  a  great 
throng  on  foot,  and  welcomed  him  with  a  speech  from 
the  rector.  He  persevered  in  his  journey,  notwithstand- 
ing illness  by  the  way  and  many  voices  of  discourage- 
ment —  mingled,  to  be  sure,  with  others  more  cheering 
—  which  met  him  at  every  step.1  When  he  reached  the 
last  station  he  was  advised  by  a  councillor  of  Frederic 
not  to  go  on  ;  the  fate  of  Huss,  it  was  said,  might  befall 
him.  To  which  he  replied  :  "  Huss  has  been  burned, 
but  not  the  truth  with  him.  I  will  go  in,  though  as  many 
devils  were  aiming  at  me  as  there  are  tiles  on  the  roof."  2 
He  rode  into  the  town  at  midday,  through  streets 
crowded  with  people  who  had  gathered  to  see  him.  On 
the  following  day,  at  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  hav- 
ing first  solemnly  commended  himself  to  God  in  prayer, 
he  was  escorted  by  the  imperial  master  of  the  horse, 
Ulrich  of  Pappenheim,  to  the  hall  of  audience.  He  was 
conducted  by  a  private  and  circuitous  way  in  order  to 
avoid  the  press  of  the  multitude ;  yet  the  windows  and 
roofs  that  overlooked  the  route  which  he  took,  were 
thronged  with  spectators.  As  lie  entered  the  august  as- 
sembly he  beheld  the  youthful  Emperor  on  his  throne, 
with  his  brother,  the  Archduke  Ferdinand,  at  his  side, 
and  a  brilliant  retinue  of  princes  and  nobles,  lay  and 
ecclesiastical,  among  whom  were  his  own  sovereign,  Fred- 
eric the  Wise,  and  the  Landgrave,  Philip  of  Hesse,  who 
was  then  but  seventeen  years  of  age,  together  with  the 
deputies  of  the  imperial  cities,  foreign  ambassadors,  and 
a  numerous  array  of  dignitaries  of  every  rank.  It  was 
estimated  that  not  less  than  five  thousand  persons  were 

1  Some  interesting  details  are  given  by  Myconius,  Hist.  Reformat.,  p.  38  (in 
Cyprian's  Urkunden). 

2  Concerning  the  precise  form  of  the  expression,  see  Ranke,  i.  334,  and  his 
reference  to  De  Wette,  ii.  139.  But  Spalatin  gives  the  expression  in  the  more 
usual  form  in  which  it  is  quoted:  "  Dass  er  mir  Spalitino  aus  Oppenheim 
gin  Wurmbs,  schriebe:  'Er  wollte  gin  Wurmbs,  wenngleich  so  viel  Teufel 
darrinnen  wiiren,  als  immer  Zeigel  da  wiiren.'  "  Jahrb.  von  d.  Ref.  Luth.  (1521) 
p.  39  (in  Cyprian's  Urkunden).     He  arrived  at  Worms,  April  16,  1521. 


110      LUTHER  AND  THE  GERMAN  REFORMATION. 

collected  in  and  around  the  hall.  For  a  moment  he 
seemed  to  be  somewhat  dazzled  by  the  imposing  charac- 
ter of  the  assembly.  He  spoke  in  a  low  voice,  and  many 
thought  that  he  was  afraid.  In  reply  to  the  question 
whether  he  retracted  what  he  had  written  in  his  books, 
the  titles  of  which  were  read,  he  asked  for  time  to  frame 
an  answer  suitable  to  so  grave  a  question.1  Time  was 
given  him,  and  on  the  following  evening,  at  an  hour  so 
late  that  lamps  were  lighted,  he  was  once  more  ushered 
into  the  assembly.  He  exhibited  no  sign  of  embarrass- 
ment, but  in  a  calm,  determined  manner,  in  strong  and 
manly  tones  of  voice,  declined  to  revoke  his  opinions  or 
condemn  his  writings,  until  they  should  be  disproved  by 
some  other  authority  than  pope  or  council,  even  by  clear 
testimonies  of  Scripture  or  conclusive  arguments  from 
reason.  A  council  could  err,  he  said;  and  he  declared 
himself  ready  to  prove  it.  When  a  final,  definite  answer 
to  the  question  whether  he  would  recant,  was  demanded, 
he  replied  that  his  conscience  would  not  permit  him: 
"  Here  I  stand;  I  cannot  do  otherwise.  God  help  me. 
Amen.*'  There  were  many  besides  the  Saxon  Elector, 
whose  German  hearts  were  thrilled  by  the  noble  de- 
meanor of  Luther  on  that  momentous  day.2  Tokens  of 
admiration  and  sympathy  were  not  wanting.  Had 
violence  been  attempted,  there  were  too  many  young 
knights,  armed  to  the  teeth  and  resolved  to  protect  him, 
io  give  to  such  an  attempt  an  assurance  of  success.     One 

1  That  Lather  asked  for  delay  has  been  made  a  ground  of  reproach  by  ad- 
versaries. See  the  answer  to  Maimbourg,  in  Seekendorf,  lib.  i.  sect.  40,  §  94. 
Ii  has  occasioned  perplexity  to  Protestant  writers.  See  Waddington,  i.  348. 
I'.ut  the  explanation  is  that  he  had,  in  all  probability,  not  expected  a  perernp- 
tory  demand  of  this  nature,  and  wished  for  time  to  frame  an  answer — espe- 
eially  in  view  of  the  fact  that  his  writings  contained,  among  other  things, 
many  personalities.  The  request  for  postponement  was  doubtless  in  accord- 
ance wiili  the  advice  of  .Jerome  Schurff,  his  legal  assistant.  On  this  topic  see 
Gieseler,  IV.  i.  1,§  1,  a.  79.  Ranke  observes:  "Aueh  er  nahra  die  Formlich- 
keiten  des  Reiches  fur  aich  in  Anspruch."  Deutsch.  Gsch.,  i.  334. 

a  Respecting  the  impression  made  by  Luther  on  various  persons,  see  Ranke, 
i.  330  seq. 


THE  DIET    OF   WORMS.  Ill 

who  was  present  testifies  that  Luther  returned  to  his 
lodgings,  full  of  courage  and  cheerfulness,  and  declared 
that  had  he  a  thousand  heads  he  would  have  them  all 
struck  off  before  he  would  make  a  retraction.1  Some 
advised  Charles  to  disregard  his  safe-conduct,  but  he  re- 
membered the  blush  of  Sigismund,  when  Huss  looked 
him  in  the  face  at  Constance,  and  refused.  Even  Duke 
George  of  Saxony  cried  out  against  an  act  so  derogatory 
to  German  honor.  It  is  worthy  of  note,  that  the  Em- 
peror, in  his  last  days,  at  the  Convent  of  Yuste,  when 
superstition  had  more  sway  over  him,  regretted  his  own 
fidelity  to  duty  and  honor  at  the  time  when  he  had 
Luther  in  his  power.2  When  a  part  of  the  assembly  had 
gone  home,  the  decree  was  proclaimed  that  placed  Luther 
under  the  ban  of  the  Empire.  Bearing  the  same  date  as 
the  sentence  of  outlawry  against  him  was  a  treaty  be- 
tween Leo  X.  and  Charles  for  the  reconquest  of  Milan 
by  the  latter.3  The  Pope  was  also  to  abstain  from  com- 
plying with  the  wish  of  the  Spanish  Estates  that  he  would 
soften  the  rigors  of  the  Inquisition  in  Spain,  a  necessary 
instrument  of  Charles's  tyranny.4 

Leo  X.  had  opposed  the  election  of  Charles,  and  had 
made  great  exertions  to  secure  the  elevation  of  Francis 
to  the  imperial  station.  The  Pope  was  resolved  to  pre- 
vent, if  he  could,  the  sovereignty  of  Naples  and  the  im- 
perial office  from  being  in  the  same  hands.  He  dreaded 
the  consequences  to  his  own  states  and  the  effect  upon 
Italy  generally  that  would  result  from  such  an  accumula- 
tion of  power.  But  after  Charles  had  been  chosen,  both 
the  Emperor  and  Leo  saw  the  advantages  that  would  at- 
tend upon  their  union,  and  the  damage  that  each  could 
inflict  upon  the  other  in  case  they  persevered  in  their 
hostility.        Accordingly  they  concluded    an    alliance,    a 

i  Spalatin,  p.  42. 

2  Robertson,  History  of  Charles  V.,  Prescott's  Appendix  (iii.  482). 

8  Ranke,  History  of  the  Popes,  i.  86. 

<  Ranke,  Deutsche  Geschichte,  i.  329. 


112      LUTHEB  AND  THE  GERMAN  REFORMATION. 

main  provision  of  whicli  was  that  the  parties  were  to 
divide  between  them  the  places  to  be  conquered  by  the 
Emperor  in  Lombardy. 

Thus  Luther  was  placed  under  the  ban  of  the  Empire 
and  of  the  Church.  The  two  great  institutions,  the  two 
potentates,  in  whom  it  had  been  imagined  that  all  au- 
thority on  earth  is  embodied,  pronounced  against  him. 
The  movement  that  had  enlisted  in  its  support  to  so  great 
an  extent  the  literary  and  political,  as  well  as  the  dis- 
tinctively religious,  elements  of  opposition  to  Rome,  was 
condemned  by  Church  and  State.  It  remained  to  be  seen 
whether  the  decree  of  the  Diet  could  be  carried  into  exe- 
cution. 

Now  we  find  Luther  in  the  Wartburg,  the  place  of 
refuge  chosen  for  him  by  the  firm  but  discreet  Elector. 
It  is  a  very  fine  remark  of  Melancthon  respecting  the 
Elector  to  whose  honest  piety  and  discerning  spirit  the 
Reformation  owes  so  much  :  "  He  was  not  one  of  those 
who  would  stifle  changes  in  their  very  birth.  He  was 
subject  to  the  will  of  God.  He  read  the  writings  that 
were  put  forth,  and  would  not  permit  any  power  to  crush 
what  lie  thought  true."  Here,  though  enduring  much 
physical  pain  consequent  upon  neglect  of  exercise,1  Luther 
is  incessantly  at  work,  sending  forth  controversial  pam- 
phlets, writing  letters  of  counsel  and  encouragement  to 
his  friends,  and  laboring  on  his  translation  of  the  New 
Testament,  the  first  portion  of  that  version  of  the  entire 
Scriptures,  which  is  one  of  his  most  valuable  gifts  to  the 
German  people.2  [diomatic,  vital  in  every  part,  clothed 
in  the  racy  Language  of  common  life,  it  created,  apart 
from  its  religious  influence,  an  epoch  in  the  literary  de- 
velopmenl  of  the  German  nation.8     Troubles  at  Witten- 

1   II-  adverts  to  his  physical  disorders,   De  Wette,  ii.  pp.  2,  17,  29,  33,  50,  59. 

•-'  On  the  previous  translations  of  the  Bible  into  High  and  Low  German,  and 
..n  their  small  circulation,  especially  among  (lie  laity,  see  Herzog's  Real-Encyc, 
art.  "Deutsche  Bibelubersetzungen." 

«  On  the  incalculable  advantage  of  Luther's  Bible  as  furnishing  a  "people's 
book  "  —  a  "fundamental  work  for  the  instruction  of  the  people  "  —  there  are 
good  remarks  by  Hegel,  Phil,  der  Geschichte  ;  Werke,  ix.  503,  504. 


LUTHER    AND    THE    ICONOCLASTS.  113 

berg  called  him  forth  from  his  retreat.  An  iconoclastic 
movement  had  broken  out  under  the  lead  of  Carlstadt, 
for  the  purpose  of  sweeping  away  in  an  abrupt  and  vio- 
lent manner  rites  that  were  deemed  incongruous  with  the 
new  doctrine.  There  was  a  certain  consistency  in  this 
radical  movement,  and  many  of  the  changes  that  were  at- 
tempted, Luther  and  his  followers  themselves  effected 
afterwards.  But  there  was  a  spirit  of  enthusiasm  and 
violence,  of  which  Luther  saw  the  danger  ;  and  the  inno- 
vators were  associating  with  themselves  pretended  prophets 
from  Zwickau,  who  claimed  a  miraculous  inspiration  and 
were  the  apostles  of  a  social  revolution.  Luther  compre- 
hended at  a  glance  the  full  import  of  the  crisis.  Should 
his  movement  issue  in  a  sober  and  salutary  reform,  or  run 
out  into  a  wild,  fanatical  sect  ?  It  is  a  mark  of  the  sound 
conservatism  of  Luther,  or  rather  of  his  profound  Chris- 
tian wisdom,  that  he  desired  no  changes  that  did  not 
result  spontaneously  from  an  insight  into  the  true  princi- 
ples of  the  Gospel.  Better,  he  thought,  to  let  obnoxious 
rites  and  ceremonies  remain,  unless  they  fall  away  from 
their  perceived  inconsistency  with  the  Gospel,  as  the 
natural  result  of  incoming  light  and  the  education  of  con- 
science. "  If  we,"  he  said,  "  are  to  be  iconoclasts  because 
the  Jews  were,  then  like  them  we  must  kill  all  the  un- 
believers.*' 1  He  was  unwilling  to  have  the  attention  of 
men  drawn  away  from  the  central  questions  by  an  excite- 
ment about  points  of  subordinate  moment ;  and  he  counted 
no  changes  to  be  of  any  value,  however  reasonable  in 
themselves,  which  were  brought  to  pass  by  the  dictation 
of  leaders  or  by  any  form  of  external  pressure.  Seeing 
the  full  extent  of  the  danger,  he  resolved,  whatever  might 
befall  himself,  to  return  to  his  flock.  Luther  never  ap- 
pears more  grand  than  at  this  moment.  To  the  prudent 
Elector  who  warned  him  against  leaving  his  retreat,  and 
told  him  that  he  could  not  protect  him  against  the  con- 

i  De  Wette,  ii.  548. 


114  LUTHEB   AND  THE   GERMAN   REFORMATION. 

lequenoes  of  the  edict  of  Worms,  lie  wrote  in  a  lofty 
strain  of  courage  and  faith.  He  went  forth,  he  said,  un- 
der far  higher  protection  than  that  of  the  Elector.  This 
was  a  cause  not  to  be  aided  or  directed  by  the  sword.  He 
who  has  most  faith  will  be  of  most  use.  "  Since  I  now 
perceive,"  he  wrote,  "  that  your  Electoral  Grace  is  still 
very  weak  in  faith,  I  can  by  no  means  regard  your  Elec- 
toral Highness  as  the  man  who  is  able  to  shield  or  save 
me."  l  If  he  had  as  pressing  business  at  Leipsic,  he  said, 
as  he  had  at  Wittenberg,  he  would  ride  in  there  if  it 
earned  Duke  Georges  nine  days  !  2  Arriving  at  Witten- 
berg, he  entered  the  pulpit  on  the  following  Sunday,  and 
by  a  series  of  eight  discourses  put  an  end  to  the  formi- 
dable disturbance  (1522). 

Restored  to  Wittenberg,  Luther  continued  his  hercu- 
lean labors  as  a  preacher,  teacher,  and  author.  Commen- 
taries, tracts,  letters  upon  all  the  various  themes  on  which 
he  was  daily  consulted  or  on  which  he  felt  impelled  to 
speak,  continually  flowed  from  his  pen.  In  a  single  year 
he  put  forth  not  less  than  one  hundred  and  eighty-three 
publications.3 

Meantime  the  Council  of  Regency,  who  managed  the 
government  in  the  absence  of  the  Emperor,  steadily  de- 
cline.1  to  adopt  measures  for  the  extirpation  of  the  Lu- 
therans. The  ground  was  taken  that  the  religious  move- 
ment was  loo  much  a  matter  of  conscience  ;  it  had  taken 
root  in  the  minds  of  too  great  a  number  to  allow  of  its 
suppression  by  force.  An  attempt  to  do  so  would  breed 
disturbances  of  a  dangerous  character.  The  drift  of  feel- 
ing  through  the  nation  was  unmistakably  in  the  direction 

i  D,.  Wette,  ii.  L89. 

I  De  Wette,  ii.  L40. 
II  Bays:  "Sum  eerte  velocis  mentis  et  promts  memorise  e  qua  mihi  fluit, 
qunm  promatur,  quicquid  Bcribo."  Letter  to  Spalatin  (Feb.  3,1520);  DcWetto. 
i.  408.  Flveyi  ir  later  he  writes:  '*  Sic  obruor  quotidie  Uteris,  ut  mensa,  scam- 
na,  scabella,  pulpita,  fenestras,  arose,  asseres,  ft  omnia  plena  jaceant  Uteris, 
quastionibus,  querelis,  petitionibus,  etc.  In  me  ruil  tota  moles  eeclesiastiea  et 
politiea,"  etc     Letter  to  Wenc  Link.  (June  20,  152!));  De  Wette,  iii.  472. 


DIVISION  OF   GERMANY.  115 

of  reform.  Adrian  VI.,  who  was  a  man  of  strict  morals, 
the  successor  of  Leo.  X.,  found  himself  unable  to  remedy 
the  abuses  to  which  he  attributed  the  Lutheran  move- 
ment. The  demand  which  he  made  by  his  legate  at  the 
Diet  of  Nuremberg,  in  1522,  that  the  decree  against 
Luther  should  be  enforced,  was  met  by  the  presentation 
of  a  list  of  a  hundred  grievances  of  which  the  Diet  had  to 
complain  to  the  Roman  see.  His  successor,  Clement  VII., 
in  whom  the  old  spirit  of  worldliness,  after  the  brief  in- 
terval of  Adrian's  reign,  was  reinstated  in  the  papal 
chair,  fared  little  better  at  the  Diet  of  Nuremberg,  in 
1524,  when,  through  his  legate  Campeggio,  he  demanded 
the  unconditional  suppression  of  the  Lutheran  heresy. 
The  Pope  and  the  Emperor  could  obtain  no  more  than  an 
indefinite  engagement  to  observe  the  Worms  decree,  "  as 
far  as  possible."  This  action  was  equivalent  to  remand- 
ing the  subject  to  the  several  princes  within  their  respec- 
tive territories.  It  was  coupled  with  a  reference  of  dis- 
puted matters  to  a  general  council,  and  with  a  resolution 
to  take  up  the  hundred  complaints  at  the  next  diet.  A. 
majority  could  not  be  obtained  against  the  Lutherans  and 
in  favor  of  the  coercive  measures  demanded  by  the  Pope 
and  by  Charles.  And  the  movement  of  reform  was 
spreading  in  every  part  of  Germany. 

This  aspect  of  affairs  moved  the  papal  party  to  the 
adoption  of  active  measures  to  turn  the  scale  on  the  other 
side  —  measures  which  began  the  division  of  Germany. 
Up  to  this  point  no  division  had  occurred.  The  nation 
had  moved  as  one  body  :  it  had  refused  to  suppress  the 
new  opinions.  Now  strenuous  efforts  were  put  forth  to 
combine  the  Catholics  into  a  compact  party  for  mutual 
aid  and  defense.  At  Ratisbon  an  alliance  of  this  charac- 
ter was  formed  by  the  Catholic  princes  and  bishops  of 
South  Germany,  by  the  terms  of  which  the  Wittenberg 
heresy  was  to  be  excluded  from  their  dominions,  and  they 
were  to  help  each  other  in  their  common  dangers.     At 


116      LUTHER  AND  THE  GERMAN  REFORMATION. 

the  Diet  of  Nuremberg  it  had  been  determined  to  hold 
an  assembly  shortly  after  at  Spires  for  the  regulation  of 
ecclesiastical  affairs.  The  princes  were  to  procure  before- 
hand from  their  councillors  and  scholars  a  statement  of 
the  points  in  dispute.  The  grievances  of  the  nation  were 
to  be  set  forth,  and  remedies  were  to  be  sought  for  them. 
Th<-  nation  was  to  deliberate  and  act  on  the  great  matter 
of  religious  reform.  The  prospect  was  that  the  evangel- 
ical party  would  be  in  the  majority.  The  papal  court 
saw  the  danger  that  was  involved  in  an  assembly  gathered 
for  such  a  purpose,  and  determined  to  prevent  the  meet- 
ing. At  this  moment  war  was  breaking  out  between 
Charles  and  Francis.  Charles  had  no  inclination  to  offend 
the  Pope.  He  forbade  the  assembly  at  Spires  and,  by 
letters  addressed  to  the  princes  individually,  endeavored 
to  drive  them  into  the  execution  of  the  edict  of  Worms. 
In  consequence  of  these  threatening  movements,  the 
Elector  of  Saxony  and  the  Landgrave  of  Hesse  entered 
into  the  defensive  league  of  Torgau,  in  which  they  were 
joined  by  several  Protestant  communities.  The  battle 
of  Pavia  and  the  capture  of  Francis  I.  were  events  that 
appeared  to  be  fraught  with  peril  to  the  Protestant  cause. 
In  the  Peace  of  Madrid  (January  14, 1526)  both  sovereigns 
avowed  the  determination  to  suppress  heresy.  But  the 
dangerous  preponderance  obtained  by  the  Emperor  created 
an  alarm  throughout  Europe;  and  the  release  of  Francis 
was  followed  by  the  organization  of  a  confederacy  against 
Charles,  of  which  Clement  was  the  leading  promoter. 
This  changed  the  imperial  policy  in  reference  to  the 
Lutherans.  The  Diet  of  Spires  in  1526  unanimously  re- 
solved that,  until  the  meeting  of  a  general  council,  every 
Btate  should  act  in  regard  to  the  edict  of  Worms  as  it 
might  answer  to  God  and  his  imperial  majesty.  Once 
more  Germany  refused  to  stifle  the  Reformation,  and 
adopted  the  principle  that  each  of  the  component  parts  of 
the  Empire  should  be  left  free  to  act  according  to  its  own 


THE   PROTEST   AT    SPIRES.  117 

will.  It  was  a  measure  of  the  highest  importance  to  the 
cause  of  Protestantism.  It  is  a  great  landmark  in  the 
history  of  the  German  Reformation.  The  war  of  the 
Emperor  and  the  Pope  involved  the  necessity  of  tolerating 
the  Lutherans. 

In  1527,  an  imperial  army,  composed  largely  of  Lu- 
theran infantry,  captured  and  sacked  the  city  of  Rome. 
For  several  months  the  Pope  was  held  a  prisoner.  For 
a  number  of  years  the  position  of  Charles  with  respect  to 
France  and  the  Pope,  and  the  fear  of  Turkish  invasion, 
had  operated  to  embolden  and  greatly  strengthen  the 
cause  of  Luther.  But  now  that  the  Emperor  had  gained 
a  complete  victory  in  Italy,  the  Catholic  party  revived  its 
policy  of  repression ;  and  at  the  Diet  of  Spires,  in  1529, 
a  majority  was  obtained  for  an  edict  virtually  forbidding 
the  progress  of  the  Reformation  in  the  states  which  had 
not  accepted  it,  at  the  same  time  that  liberty  was  given 
to  the  adherents  of  the  old  confession  in  the  reformed 
states  to  celebrate  their  rites  with  freedom.  It  is  impos- 
sible to  describe  here  the  methods  by  which  a  reversal  of 
the  national  policy  was  thus  procured.  The  decisive  cir- 
cumstance was  that  Charles  V.,  in  consequence  of  his  sym- 
pathy with  the  spirit  of  Spanish  Catholicism,  instead  of 
putting  himself  at  the  head  of  the  great  religious  and 
national  movement  in  Germany,  chose  to  maintain  the 
ancient  union  of  the  Empire  with  the  Papacy.  The  pro- 
test against  the  proceeding  of  the  Diet,  which  gave  the 
name  of  Protestants  to  the  reforming  party,  and  the  ap- 
peal to  the  Emperor,  to  a  general  or  a  German  council,  and 
to  all  impartial  Christian  judges,  was  signed  by  John,  the 
Elector  of  Saxony,  the  Margrave  of  Brandenburg,  the 
Duke  of  Brunswick-Luneburg,  the  Landgrave  of  Hesse, 
the  Prince  of  Anhalt ;  to  whom  were  united  fourteen 
cities,  among  which  were  Nuremberg,  Strasburg,  and  Con 
stance. 

The  party  of  reform  did  not  consider  itself  bound  by 


118      LUTHER  AND  THE  GERMAN  REFORMATION. 

the  action  of  the  Diet,  not  only  because  its  edict  looked 
to  compulsion  in  a  matter  that  should  be  left  to  the 
conscience,  but  also  because  it  overthrew  a  policy  which 
had  been  solemnly  established  ;  a  policy  on  the  faith 
of  which  the  princes  and  cities  that  were  favorable  to 
•he  evangelical  cause  had  proceeded  in  shaping  their  re- 
ligious polity  and  worship.  The  efforts  made,  especially 
by  tlie  Landgrave  of  Hesse,  to  combine  the  supporters  of 
the  Reformation  in  a  defensive  league,  were  chilled  by  the 
opposition  of  Luther  to  measures  that  looked  to  a  war 
with  the  Emperor,  and  still  more  prevented  from  being 
successful  by  his  determined  unwillingness  to  unite  with 
the  Swiss,  on  account  of  what  he  considered  their  heretical 
doctrine  of  the  sacrament.  Luther  and  his  associates 
were  imbued  with  a  sense  of  the  obligation  of  the  subject 
to  the  powers  that  be  and  with  the  sacreclness  of  the  Em- 
pire. The  course  for  the  Christian  to  take,  in  their 
judgment,  was  that  of  passive  obedience.  They  like- 
wise deemed  it  an  unlawful  thing  to  join  with  errorists 
—  with  men  who  rejected  material  parts  of  Christian 
truth.  However  open  to  criticism  the  position  of  the 
Saxon  reformers  was  on  both  of  these  points,  it  should 
not  be  forgotten  that  their  general  motive  was  the  sub- 
lime disregard  of  mere  expediency,  which  had  character- 
ized, and,  we  may  add,  had  ennobled  their  movement  at 
every  step. 

In  this  state  of  things,  the  Emperor,  flushed  with  suc- 
cess, mel  the  representatives  of  the  Empire  in  1530,  at 
the  memorable  Diet  of  Augsburg.  The  inconvenience 
and  danger  of  keeping  the  Tope  in  captivity  had  caused 
Charles  to  wish  for  an  accommodation  with  him.  The 
desire  of  Clement  VII.,  a  self-seeking  politician,  to  have 
Florence  restored  to  his  family,  in  connection  with  other 
less  influential  considerations,  inspired  him  with  a  like 
feeling;  bo  thai  amity  was  reestablished.  At  the  same 
time  the   Peace  of   Cambray  terminated  for  a  time  the 


THE    DIET    OF   AUGSBURG.  119 

conflict  with  France.  Tlie  Emperor  was  freed  from  the 
embarrassments  which  had  hindered  him  from  patting 
forth  determined  endeavors  to  restore  the  unity  of  the 
Church.  He  had  been  crowned  at  Bologna,  and  was 
filled  with  a  sense  of  his  responsibility  as  the  head  of  the 
Holy  Roman  Empire,  the  guardian  of  Christianity  and  of 
the  Church.  He  was  surrounded  by  the  Spanish  nobility 
as  well  as  by  the  princes  and  representatives  of  the  Em- 
pire. The  design  was  to  persuade,  and,  if  this  should 
prove  impracticable,  to  overawe  and  coerce  the  Protes- 
tants into  an  abandonment  of  their  cause.  A  faith  and 
heroism  less  steadfast  would  have  yielded  to  the  tremen- 
dous pressure  that  was  brought  to  bear  upon  them.  It 
was  not  considered  wise  or  safe  for  Luther  to  go  to 
Augsburg.  He  Avas  left  behind  in  the  castle  of  Coburg, 
within  the  limits  of  the  Elector's  dominion,  but  he  held 
frequent  communication  with  the  Saxon  theologians  who 
attended  the  Elector.  The  celebrated  Confession,  drawn 
up  by  Melancthon,  in  a  conciliatory  spirit,  but  clearly 
defining  the  essential  tenets  of  Protestantism  —  a  creed 
which  has  obtained  more  currency  and  respect  than  any 
other  Protestant  symbol  —  was  read  to  the  Assembly.  The 
reply,  composed  by  Eck  and  other  Catholic  theologians, 
was  also  presented.  Then  followed  efforts  at  compromise, 
in  which  Melancthon  bore  a  prominent  part,  and  showed 
a  willingness  to  concede  everything  but  that  which  waa 

o  JO 

deemed  most  vital.  These  efforts  fell  to  the  ground. 
They  could  invent  no  formulas  on  which  they  could  agree, 
upon  the  merit  of  works,  penance,  and  the  invocation  of 
saints.  The  elaborate  and  able  Apology  by  Melancthon, 
in  defense  of  the  Confession,  was  not  heard,  but  was 
published  by  the  author.  The  majority  of  the  Diet  en- 
joined the  restoration  of  the  old  ecclesiastical  institutions, 
allowing  the  Protestants  time  for  reflection  until  the  10th 
of  November  of  the  following  year;  after  which,  it  was 
implied,  coercion  would  be  adopted.     Nothing  in  the  his- 


120      LUTHER  AND  THE  GERMAN  REFORMATION. 

tory  of  the  Reformation  is  more  pathetic  than  the  conduct 
of  the  Elector  John  at  Augsburg,  who,  in  the  full  pros- 
peel  of  the  ruin  of  every  earthly  interest,  and  not  without 
the  deepest  sensibility  from  his  attachment  to  the  Em- 
peror and  to  the  peace  of  the  Empire,  nevertheless  resolved 
to  stand  by  "  the  imperishable  Word  of  God."  The 
Reformers  were  willing  to  release  him  from  all  obligation 
to  protect  them,  to  take  whatever  lot  Providence  might 
send  upon  them  ;  but  this  true-hearted  prince  refused  to 
compromise  in  the  least  his  sacred  convictions.1 

The  letters  written  by  Luther  during  the  sessions  of 
the  Diet  exhibit  in  bold  relief  the  noblest  and  most  at- 
tractive sides  of  his  character.  The  fine  mingling  of  jest 
and  earnest,  the  grand  elevation  of  his  faith,  his  serene, 
dauntless  courage,  and  his  broad  sagacity,  are  never  more 
striking.  He  takes  time  to  write  a  charming  letter  to  his 
little  son.  2  To  his  friends  at  Augsburg  he  sportively  writes 
that*in  the  flock  of  crows  and  rooks  hurrying  to  and  fro, 
and  screaming  in  a  thicket  before  his  window,  he  finds 
another  Diet,  with  its  dukes  and  lords,  which  quite  re- 
sembles the  imperial  assembly.  "  They  care  not  for  large 
halls  and  palaces,  for  their  hall  is  roofed  by  the  beautiful, 
wide-spreading  sky,  its  floor  is  the  simple  turf,  its  tables 
are  pretty  green  branches,  and  its  walls  are  as  wide  as 
the  world's  end."  3  He  will  build  there,  in  his  seclusion, 
three  tabernacles,  one  for  the  prophets,  one  for  the  Psal- 
fcer,  and  another  for  iEsop ;  for  not  only  will  he  expound 
the  Scriptures,  he  will  translate  iEsop,  too,  for  the  in- 
struction of  his  Germans.4  Why  had  Master  Joachim 
twice  written  bo  him  in  Greek?  He  would  reply  in 
Turkish,  so  thai  Master  Joachim  might  also  read  what  he 

I  John  the  Constant  succeeded  his  brother,  Frederic  the  Wise,  in  1525. 

a  De  Wette,  iv.  il. 

;;  De  Wette,  iv.  I.  8,  L3.  The  letter  is  dated  from  "the  Diet  of  Grain- 
Peckers,"  Al,nl  28,  1530.  Writing  to  Spalatin  a  few  days  after  in  the  same 
■train,  he  add-:  "  Yet  it  is  in  seriousness  and  by  compulsion  that  I  jest,  that  I 
may  repel  the  reflections  which  rush  in  upon  me,  if  indeed  I  may  repel  them." 
De  Wette,  iv.  14.  •*  De  Wette,  iv.  2. 


luther's  faith  and  courage.  121 

could  not  understand.1  He  sets  a  trap  to  decoy  a  fastidi- 
ous musical  critic  into  an  approval  of  a  piece  which  Luther 
had  himself  partly  composed,  but  which  he  contrives  to 
have  passed  off  as  a  performance  at  Augsburg,  to  cele- 
brate the  entrance  of  Charles  and  Ferdinand.2  Suffering 
himself  from  prostration  of  strength  and  from  a  thunder- 
ing in  the  head,  which  forced  him  to  lay  down  his  books 
for  days,  he  enjoins  Melancthon  to  observe  the  rules  for 
the  care  of  his  "  little  body."  3  He  exhorts  the  anxious 
Philip  to  the  exercise  of  greater  faith.  If  Moses  had  re- 
solved to  know  just  how  he  was  to  escape  from  the  army 
of  Pharaoh,  Israel  would  have  been  in  Egypt  to-day.4 
Let  Philip  cease  to  be  rector  mundi  and  let  the  Lord 
govern.5  In  bearing  private  griefs  and  afflictions,  Philip 
was  the  stronger,  but  the  opposite  is  true,  said  Luther, 
of  those  which  are  of  a  public  nature.6  If  we  fall,  he 
says,  Christ  falls,  and  I  prefer  to  fall  with  Christ  than 
stand  with  Caesar.7  He  rejoices  to  have  lived  to  have  the 
Confession  read  before  the  Empire.8  He  bids  Melancthon, 
if  the  cause  is  unjust,  to  abandon  it ;  but  if  it  be  just,  to 
cast  away  his  fears.  He  is  full  of  that  sublime  confi- 
dence which  rang  out  in  the  most  popular  of  his  hymns, 
"  the  Marseillaise  of  the  Reformation"  — 

"  Ein  fester  Burg  ist  unser  Gott"  — 

Three  hours  in  the  day  he  spent  in  prayer.9  He  writes 
to  the  Elector's  anxious  Chancellor  :  "  I  have  lately  seen 

1  De  Wette,  iv.  1G.      2  ibid.  3  ibid.,  p.  36.  <  Ibid.,  p.  52. 

5  Ibid.,  p.  55.  o  Ibid.,  p.  G2.       »  Ibid.,  p.  63.  8  Ibid.,  p.  71. 

9  Veit  Dietrich,  wbo  was  with  him,  wrote  to  Melancthon:  "I  cannot  suffi- 
ciently wonder  at  this  man's  admirable  steadfastness,  cheerful  courage,  faith,  and 
hope,  in  so  doleful  a  time.  He  nourishes  these  tempers,  however,  by  studious, 
uninterrupted  meditation  of  God's  Word.  Not  a  day  passes  when  he  does  not 
spend  three  hours,  and  those  best  suited  for  study,  in  prayer.  Once  I  had  the 
good  fortune  to  hear  him  pray.  Good  God,  what  a  faith  appeared  in  his  words! 
He  prayed  with  such  reverence  that  one  stuv  he  was  talking  with  God,  and  yet. 
with  such  faith  and  hope  that  it  seemed  as  if  he  was  talking  with  a  father  and 
a  friend.  'I  know,'  he  said,  'that  Thou  art  our  God  and  Father.  So  I  am 
certain  Thou  wilt  bring  to  shame  the  persecutors  of  Thy  children.  If  Thou 
doest  it  not,  the  hazard  is  Thine  as  well  as  ours.     In  truth,  the  whole  matter  if 


122      LUTHER  AND  THE  GERMAN  REFORMATION. 

two  wonders,  —  first,  as  I  looked  out  of  the  window,  I 
saw  the  stars  in  the  heavens  and  the  entire  beautiful 
vault  which  God  has  raised;  yet  the  heavens  fell  not, 
and  the  vault  still  stands  firm.  Now  some  would  be  glad 
to  find  the  pillars  that  sustain  it,  and  grasp  and  feel 
them."  "  The  other  was :  I  saw  great  thick  clouds  hang- 
ing above  ua  with  such  weight,  that  they  might  be  com- 
pared to  a  great  sea  ;  and  yet  I  saw  no  ground  on  which 
they  rested  and  no  vessel  wherein  they  were  contained ; 
yet  they  did  not  fall  upon  us,  but  saluted  us  with  a  harsh 
look  and  fled  away.  As  they  pass  away,  a  rainbow  shines 
forth  on  the  ground  and  on  our  roof."  1  "  All  things," 
he  writes  in  another  place,  "  are  in  the  hands  of  God, 
who  can  cover  the  sky  with  clouds  and  brighten  it  again 
in  a  moment."  2  It  is  painful  to  him  that  God's  Word 
must  be  so  silent  at  Augsburg  ;  for  the  Protestants  were 
not  allowed  to  preach.3  He  had  a  settled  distrust  of 
Campeggio  and  the  other  Italians:  " where  an  Italian  is 
good,  ho  is  most  good,"  but  to  find  such  an  one  is  as 
hard  as  to  find  a  black  swan.  He  went  along  with 
Melancthon  in  a  willingness  to  make  concessions,  pro-. 
vided  the  evangelical  doctrine  and  freedom  in  preaching 
it  were  not  saerificed.  He  had  no  suspicion  of  Philip,  as 
some  had.  There  were  many  ceremonies,  which  were 
fcrifles — leviculcB  —  not  worth  disputing  about.  Yet  it 
did  not  belong  to  the  magistrate  to  dictate  to  the  Church 
in  these  points.4  lie  would  go  so  far,  though  not  without 
reluctance,  as  to  allow  bishops  to  continue,  but  would 
permit  no  subjection  to  the  Papacy.  But  Luther  had  no 
belief  iii  the  possibility  of  a  compromise  or  reconciliation. 

Thine  own;  we  have  been  only  compelled  to  lav  hands  on  it;  Thou  mayst  then 
guard,"  &c.     <'<>r/uts  Ref.f  ii.  159. 

i  De  Wette,  iv.  L28.  At  an  earlier«day,  on  the  occasion  of  his  interview  with 
Cajetan,  in  reply  to  the  question  where  he  would  stand  if  the  Elector  should  not 
support  him,  he  answered,  "  Dntei  dem  weiten  Bimmel!  " 

a  De  Wette,  iv.  166.  3  ibid.,V-  178. 

«  De  Wette,  iv.  210,  106. 


LUTHER  S   MARRIAGE.  1223 

There  was  a  radical  antagonism  that  could  not  be  bridged 
over.  There  could  be  no  agreement  in  doctrine  ;  politi- 
cal peace  alone  was  to  be  aimed  at  and  hoped  for.1  Hence 
he  rejoiced  when  the  perilous  negotiations  between  the 
opposing  committees  of  theologians  were  brought  to  an 
end. 

There  are  several  occurrences  not  yet  noticed,  which 
took  place  in  the  interval  between  the  Diets  of  Worms 
and  of  Augsburg,  and  which  are  of  marked  importance 
both  in  their  bearing  on  the  Reformation,  and  as  illus- 
trating the  personal  character  of  Luther. 

One  of  these  events  was  his  marriage,  in  1525,  to 
Catharine  von  Bora.  He  resolved  upon  this  measure,  as 
we  learn  from  himself,  partly  because  he  expected  that 
his  life  would  not  continue  long,  and  he  was  determined 
to  leave,  in  the  most  impressive  form,  his  testimony 
against  the  Romish  law  of  celibacy.  Another  motive 
was  a  yearning  for  the  happiness  of  domestic  life,  which 
his  parents,  who  had  embraced  the  new  faith,  encouraged. 
The  scandal  that  his  marriage  caused,  first  among  his  own 
friends  and  then  the  world  over,  hardly  fell  short  of  that 
occasioned  by  the  posting  of  his  theses.  The  example 
of  Luther  was  followed  by  many  of  his  associates,  which 
gave  rise  to  the  characteristic  jest  of  Erasmus,  that  what 
had  been  called  a  tragedy  seemed  to  be  a  comed}r,  as  it 
came  out  in  a  marriage.  The  marriage  of  an  apostate 
monk  with  a  runaway  nun  betokened,  in  the  view  of 
the  superstitious,  the  coming  of  Antichrist  as  the  fruit 
of  the  unhallowed  union.  But  it  was  one  of  those  bold 
steps,  characteristic  of  Luther,  which,  in  the  long  run, 
proved  of  advantage  to  his  cause.  It  gave  him  the  solace 
of  home,  in  the  intense  excitement  and  prodigious  labors 
in  which  he  was  immersed  for  the  rest  of  his  days. 
There,  with  music,  and  song,  and  frolics  with  his  chil- 
dren, in  the  circle  of  his  friends,  he  poured  out  his  humor 
i  De  Wette,  iv.  110. 


124  LUTHER   AND   THE   GERMAN   REFORMATION. 

and  kindly  feeling  without  stint.  His  diverting  letters  to 
hia  wifc  —  his  -  Mistress  Kate,"  "  Doctoress  Luther,"  as 
he  styled  her  —  and  the  tender  expressions  of  his  grief 
at  the  death  of  his  children  could  ill  be  spared  from  the 
records  of  this  deep-hearted  man.1 

Among  these  events  are  his  controversies  with  King 
Henry  VIII.  and  with  Erasmus.  From  the  outset  it 
was  evident  that  Luther  must  either  give  up  his  cause 
or  contend  for  it  against  countless  adversaries.  His 
polemical  writings  are  therefore  quite  numerous,  and  it 
shows  the  amplitude  of  his  mind  that  he  did  not  allow 
himself  to  be  so  far  absorbed  in  this  sort  of  work  as  to 
neglect  more  positive  labors,  through  his  Bible,  cate- 
chisms, sermons,  tracts,  for  the  building  up  of  the 
Church.  He  had  to  fight  his  own  friends  when  they 
swerved  from  the  truth,  as  did  Carlstaclt,  and  also 
Agricola,  who  set  up  a  form  of  Antinomianism.  But 
his  principal  literary  battles  were  with  Henry  VIII.  and 
with  Erasmus.  The  intemperance  of  Luther's  language 
has  been  since,  as  it  was  then,  a  subject  of  frequent  cen- 
Biire.  It  must  be  remembered,  however,  what  a  tempest 
of  denunciation  fell  upon  him ;  how  he  stood  for  all  his 
life  a  mark  for  the  pitiless  hostility  of  a  great  part  of  the 
world.  It  must  be  remembered,  too,  that  for  a  time  he 
stood  alone,  and  everything  depended  on  his  constancy, 
determination,  and  dauntless  zeal  in  the  maintenance  of 
his  cause.  Had  he  wavered,  everything  would  have  been 
Lost.  And  mildness  of  language,  lie  said,  was  not  his 
gifl  ;  lie  could  not  tread  so  softly  and  lightly  as  Melanc- 
thon.2     His  convictions  were  too  intense  to  admit  of  an 


1  See,  for  example,  the  letter  (to  Nic.  Hausmann),  August  5,  1528,  after  the 
death  "f  hi-  daughter.  De  Wette,  iii.  ;3(i4.  A  complete  account  of  Luther's 
domestic  character  and  relations  is  given  by  F.  G.  Hofman,  Kathavina  von 
B>>r,,)  oder  Dr.  Martin  Luther  ah  GaW  und  Voter  (Leipzig,  1845).  There  is 
much  "t"  interest  on  the  same  suhject,  in  a  quaint  little  book,.  D.  Martin  Lu- 
ther's Zeitm  rkurzungi  u,  von  M.  Johann  Nicolaus  Anton  (Leipzig,  1804). 

2  Letter  to  the  Elector  John,  De  Wette,  iv.  17. 


VEHEMENCE   OF   LUTHER.  125 

expression  of  them  in  any  but  the  strongest  language  ;  in 
words  that  were  blows.  Moreover,  he  believed  it  to  be  a 
sound  and  wise  policy  to  fling  away  reserve  and  to  speak 
out,  in  the  most  unsparing  manner,  the  sentiments  of  his 
soul.  It  was  not  a  disease  to  be  cured  by  a  palliative.1 
The  formidable  enemy  against  which  he  was  waging  war, 
was  rendered  more  arrogant  and  exacting  by  every  act  of 
deference  shown  him,  and  by  every  concession.  There 
was  no  middle  course  to  be  pursued.2  There  must  be 
surrender,  or  open,  uncompromising  war.  Besides,  in  his 
study  of  the  Bible,  he  conceived  himself  to  find  a  war- 
rant for  all  his  hard  language,  in  the  course  taken  by  the 
prophets,  by  Christ,  and  by  Paul.3  He  felt  that  he  was 
in  conflict  with  the  same  Pharisaical  theology  and  ethics, 
which  called  forth  the  terrible  denunciations  recorded  in 
the  New  Testament.  If  it  was  proper  to  call  things  by 
their  right  names  then,  it  was  proper  now.  He  had 
been  hampered  at  the  beginning,  he  came  to  think,  by 
a  false  humility,  by  a  lingering  reverence  for  an  author- 
ity that  deserved  no  reverence.  He  regretted  that  at 
Worms  he  had  not  taken  a  different  tone  ;  that  he  had 
said  anything  about  retracting  in  case  he  could  be  con- 
vinced of  his  error.  He  would  cast  all  such  qualifications 
and  cowardly  scruples  to  the  winds  ;  he  would  stand  by 
what  he  knew  to  be  truth,  without  any  timid  respect  for 
its  adversaries.4      These  considerations  are  not  without 

1  "  Aut  ergo  desperandum  est  de  pace  et  tranquillitate  hujus  rei,  atit  verbum 
negandum  est."     Letter  to  Spalatin  (February,  1520).     De  Wette,  i.  425. 

-  "Mein  Handel  ist  nicht  ein  Mittelhandel,  der  etwas  weichen  oder  nach- 
geben,  oder  sich  unterlassen  soil,  wie  ieh  Narr  bisber  getlian  habe."  De  Wette, 
ii.  244. 

3  He  gives  reasons  for  his  vehemence  in  a  letter  to  Wenceslaus  Link  (August 
19,  1520),  De  Wette,  i.  479.  Among  other  things  he  says:  "  Video  enim  ea, 
quae  nostro  saeculo  tractantuv,  mox  cadere  in  oblivionem,  nernine  ea  curante." 
He  says  elsewhere  that  love  and  severity  are  compatible.  De  Wette,  ii.  212. 
See  also,  pp.  230,  243. 

4  Hallam  censures  Luther  for  "  bellowing  in  bad  Latin."  But  it  was  a  cry 
with  which  all  Europe  rang  "  from  side  to  side."  Had  he  been  a  man  of  the 
temperament  of  Ilallam,  where  would  have  been  the  Reformation?  The  Eras- 
mians  can  seldom  appreciate,  much  less  look  with  complacency  upon  Luther. 


126      LUTHER  AND  THE  GERMAN  REFORMATION. 

weight.  A  man  whose  natural  weapon  is  a  battle-axe 
must  not  be  rebuked  for  not  handling  a  rapier.  There  is 
sometimes  work  to  be  done  which  the  lighter  and  more 
graceful  weapon  could  never  accomplish.  At  the  same 
time,  with  all  Luther's  tenderness  of  feeling,  with  his 
line  and  even  poetic  sensibility,  there  was  a  vein  of 
coarseness,  a  plebeian  vehemence,  which,  when  he  was 
goaded  by  opposition,  engendered  scurrility. 

The  book  of  Henry  VIII.  was  directed  against  Lu- 
ther's work  on  the  sacraments,  "  The  Babylonian  Cap- 
tivity."' l  It  is  marked  by  extreme  haughtiness  toward 
Luther,  and  is  hardly  less  vituperative  than  the  Reformer's 
famous  reply.  Luther  was  the  hound  who  had  brought 
up  heresies  anew  out  of  hell ;  princes  would  combine  to 
burn  him  and  his  books  together.  It  was  throughout  an 
appeal  to  authority;  Luther  had  audaciously  presumed 
to  set  himself  against  popes  and  doctors  without  number. 
The  impression  of  Henry's  book  itself  wholly  depended 
on  the  fact  that  its  author  was  one  of  the  rulers  of  the 
earth.  Luther  probably  meant  to  neutralize  this  impres- 
sion by  bemiring  the  purple  of  this  regal  disputant  who 
had  stepped  forth,  with  his  crown  on  his  head,  into  the 
arena  of  theological  debate,  to  win  from  the  Pope,  whom 
he  obsequiously  flattered,  the  title  of  Defender  of  the 
Faith.  Subsequently,  when  Henry  was  reputed  to  be 
favorable  to  the  Protestant  cause,  at  the  earnest  solicita- 
tion of  King  Christian  II.  of  Denmark  and  of  other 
friends,  Luther  wrote  to  the  King  a  humble  apology  for 
the  violence  of  his  language  —  making  no  withdrawal, 
however,  of  any  portion  of  his  doctrine.  In  composing 
this  apologetic  letter  he  was  carried  away,  he  says,  by  the 
promptings  of  others,  to  do  what  of  himself  he  would  never 
have  done.  5  et,  not  withstanding  the  ungenerous  reception 
and  use  of  the  letter  by   Henry,  Luther  did  not  regret 

1  AtUertio  Beptem   Sacramentorum  adversus  Martinum  Lutherum   (1521). 
It  i  a  published  in  a  German  translation  in  Walch'8  ed.  of  Luther's  Writings. 


LUTHER   AND    ERASMUS.  127 

that  he  had  written  it,  as  he  did  not  regret  the  sending 
of  a  similar  epistle  to  Duke  George.  As  far  as  his  own 
person  was  concerned,  he  said,  he  was  willing  to  humble 
himself  to  a  child  ;  his  doctrine  he  would  not  compromise. 
But  such  experiences  established  him  in  the  feeling, 
which  he  had  entertained  before,  that  humility  was 
thrown  awa}r ;  that  here  was  a  mortal  conflict,  in  which 
gentle  words  were  misinterpreted,  and  therefore,  wasted, 
and  into  which  it  was  worse  than  folly  to  enter  with  his 
hands  tied.  Under  such  circumstances,  a  man  must 
neither  think  of  retreat  nor  of  the  possibility  of  placat- 
ing the  foe.  It  was  natural  that  his  experiences  of  con- 
troversy, in  their  action  on  a  temper  naturally  combative, 
should  contribute  to  carry  Luther  far  beyond  the  bounds 
of  charity,  as  well  as  of  civility,  in  his  treatment  of  the 
Sacramentarians,  the  adherents  of  Zwingle.  Of  this 
matter,  where  his  intemperance  was  more  mischievous, 
we  shall  speak  in  another  place. 

As  to  Erasmus  and  the  Saxon  Reformers,  there  was  an 
earnest  wish  on  both  sides  that  he  should  not  take  part 
against  them.  Luther,  and  Melancthon  still  more,  re- 
spected him  as  the  patriarch  of  letters,  the  restorer  of  the 
languages,  and  the  effective  antagonist  of  fanaticism  and 
superstition.  When  Luther  published  his  work  on  the 
Galatians,  he  regretted  that  Erasmus  had  not  put  forth  a 
book  on  the  same  subject,  which  would  have  rendered  his 
own  unnecessary.1  Erasmus,  in  turn,  could  not  but  ap- 
plaud the  first  movement  of  Luther.  His  love  of  litera- 
ture, not  less  than  his  religious  predilections,  would  in- 
cline him  strongly  to  the  Lutheran  side.  The  Witten- 
berg theologians  were  earnest  champions  of  the  cause  of 
learning.  But  the  caution  of  Erasmus  was  manifest  from 
the  beginning.  He  avoided  the  need  of  committing  him- 
self by  professing  to  his  various  correspondents  that  he 

had  not  read  the  books  of  Luther.     He  told  the  Elector 

« 

i  De  Wette,  i.  335. 


128      LUTHER  AND  THE  GERMAN  REFORMATION. 

of  Saxony,  in  an  interview  at  Cologne,  shortly  before  the 
Diet  of  Worms,  that  the  two  great  offences  of  Luther 
were  that  he  had  touched  the  crown  of  the  Pope  and  the 
1  tellies  of  the  monks.  The  expressions  of  sympathy  with 
the  Wittenberg  movement  that  escaped  him,  notwith- 
standing his  prudence,  or  which  reached  the  ear  of  the 
public  through  the  unauthorized  publication  of  his  letters, 
kept  him  busy  in  allaying  the  suspicions  and  anxieties  of 
Catholic  friends  and  patrons.  But  Luther  and  Erasmus 
were  utterly  diverse  from  one  another  in  character  ;  and 
"  such  nnlikes,"  as  Coleridge  has  said,  "  end  in  dislikes."' 
Erasmus,  it  has  been  remarked  with  truth,  lacked  depth 
and  fervor  of  religious  convictions.  He  was  a  typical 
latitndinarian,  in  the  cast  of  his  mind.1  His  absorbing 
passion  was  for  literature.  He  could  not  conceive  how 
any  man  of  taste  could  prefer  Augustine  to  Jerome  ; 
while  Lather  could  not  see  how  any  man  that  loved  the 
Gospel  could  fail  to  set  Augustine,  with  his  little  Greek 
and  less  Hebrew,  infinitely  above  Jerome.2  As  the  con- 
flict which  Luther  had  excited  grew  warm,  attention 
was  inevitably  drawn  away  from  the  pursuit  of  letters 
and  absorbed  in  theological  inquiry  and  controversy  ;  and 
this  change  Erasmus  deplored.  The  heat  which  Luther 
manifested  was  repugnant  to  his  taste.  The  Reformer's 
vehemence  and  roughness  became  more  and  more  offen- 
sive to  him.3  Erasmus  hated  a  commotion,  and  said  him- 
self thai  la-  would  sacrifice  a  part  of  the  truth  for  the  sake 
of  peace,  and  that  he  was  not  of  the  stuff  which  martyrs 
are  made  of.  He  could  be  an  Arian  or  a  Pelagian,  he  said, 
if  the  Church   had  so  made  its  creed;  and  yet,  in  his  in- 

l  It  is  the  "moderation"  of  Erasmus  that  leads  Gibbon  (ch.  liv.  n.  88)  to 
say:  "Erasmus  may  be  considered  the  father  of  rational  theology.  After  a 
slumber  of  an  hundred  years,  it  was  revived  by  the  Arminians  of  Holland, 
Grotius,  Limborch,  and  Le  Clerc;  in  England  by  Chillingworth,  the  latitudina- 
nana  of  Cambridge  |  Burnet,  Hist,  of  his  own  Times,  vol.  i.  pp.  261-268,  octa%*o 
edition),  Tillotson,  dark!',  Hoadley,"  etc. 

-  De  Wette,  i.  52. 

a  Strauss,  Ulrich  von  ffutten,  p.  486. 


LUTHER   AND    ERASMUS.  129 

most  heart,  and  apart  from  the  feeling  that  he  must  be 
anchored  somewhere,  the  authority  of  the  Church  counted 
for  little.  Being  by  temperament,  by  his  personal  rela- 
tions, and  by  the  effect  of  years,  and,  we  might  add,  on 
principle,  a  time-server,  he  found  himself,  being  also  the 
most  prominent  man  of  the  age,  in  an  embarrassing  situ- 
ation. He  must  stay  in  the  Church,  yet,  if  possible, 
offend  neither  party.1  Luther  saw  through  him,  and  in  a 
letter  that  was  meant  to  be  friendty,  he  irritated  the  great 
scholar  by  inviting  him  to  be  a  spectator  of  the  magnifi- 
cent tragedy  in  which  he  was  not  fitted  to  be  an  actor.2 
The  refusal  of  Erasmus  to  see  Ulrich  von  Hutten  when 
he  visited  Basel,  and  the  furious  controversy  that  ensued 
between  them  —  for  Erasmus  was  provoked  into  the  use 
of  a  style  which  he  very  much  deplored  in  Luther,  an 
inconsistency  which  Luther  did  not  fail  to  point  out  — 
was  the  first  decided  step  in  the  alienation  of  the  great 
scholar  from  the  evangelical  party.  Then  Erasmus  at 
length  yielded  to  the  persuasions  that  had  long  been  ad- 
dressed to  him  from  the  papal  side,  and  took  the  field 
against  Luther,  in  a  treatise  on  free-will ;  in  which  the 
Reformer  was  assaulted  on  a  subject  where  his  extrava- 
gant language  exposed  him  to  an  easy  attack,  and  on 
which  Erasmus  could  write  with  some  warmth  of  convic- 
tion. He  and  his  associates  preferred  the  Greek  theology 
to  that  of  Augustine,  on  this  subject  of  the  will.  More 
once  complained  that  Luther  "  clung  by  tooth  and  nail 
to  the  doctrine  of  Augustine."  Theologians  who  explain 
difficulties  by  referring  to  "  original  sin,"  Erasmus  had 
once  likened  to  astrologers  who  fall  back  on  the  stars. 
The  moderation  of  the  personal  references  to  Luther  in 
the  book  of  Erasmus  did  not  restrain  the  former  from  the 
use  of  the  severest  style  in  his  reply.  Erasmus,  he 
thought,  had  taken  his  place  under  the  banner  of   the 

1  Luther  notices  the  "dexterity"  of  Erasmus,  De  Wette,  i.  396. 

2  Letter  to  Erasmus  (April,  1524),  De  Wette,  ii.  498. 

9 


130      LUTHER  AND  THE  GERMAN  REFORMATION. 

Pope  ;  he  had  come  out  on  the  semi-Pelagian  side,  from 
which  the  whole  system  of  salvation  by  merit  was  insep- 
arable;  and  the  higher  his  standing  the  more  unsparing 
must  be  the  attack  upon  him.  The  rejoinder  of  Erasmus 
—  the  "  Hyperaspistes,"  the  first  part  of  which  appeared 
in  1525,  and  the  second  in  1527  —  completed,  if  anything 
was  wanted  to  complete,  their  mutual  estrangement. 
From  that  time  Luther  habitually  spoke  of  him  as  a  dis- 
ciple of  Lucian,  a  disciple  of  Epicurus,  an  enemy  of  all  re- 
ligions, especially  the  Christian,  and  flung  at  him  other 
appellations,  which,  if  literally  unjust,  sometimes  had  the 
truth  of  a  caricature.  Finally,  a  long  letter  of  Luther 
to  his  friend  Nicholas  von  Amsdorf,  in  which  the  author 
undertook  to  maintain  a  charge  of  scepticism,  as  well  as 
of  frivolous  levity,  against  Erasmus,  by  reference  to  his 
comments  on  Scripture,  drew  out  a  reply  which  is 
marked  by  all  the  refinement,  ingenuity,  and  wit  for 
which  Erasmus  was  deservedly  famous.  From  this  time, 
his  animosity  against  the  Protestant  cause  went  on  in- 
creasing. Luther  more  than  once  complains  that  Eras- 
mus could  make  the  sins  and  distress  of  the  Church  a 
theme  for  jesting.1  In  the  epistle  to  Amsdorf,  he  charges 
him  with  infusing  into  the  young  a  spirit  at  war  with 
religious  earnestness.2 

1  De  Wette,  i.  76.  He  finds  fault  with  Erasmus,  "  senex  et  theologus,"  tor 
treating  sacred  things  in  a  jesting  way,  in  a  period  "negotiosissimo  et  laborioso." 
Hud.,  iv.  508;  LettertoNic.  Amsdorf.  Luther,  it  will  be  remembered,  had 
not  th< ui-'lit  well  of  the  Epistolm  Obscurorum  Virorttm. 

-  [bid.,  iv.  519.  The  letters  of  Luther  set  forth  the  rise  and  progress  of  his 
estrangement  from  Erasmus.  In  a  letter  to  Spalatin  (October  19,  1516)  he 
expresses  his  dissent  from  the  idea  of  Erasmus  that,  by  "works  of  the 
law,"  Paul  means  ceremonial  works  alone,  gives  his  own  view  of  justifica- 
tion, ami  wishes  Spalatin  to  try  to  alter  the  views  of  Erasmus  on  this  point, 
lie  writes  t,.  Langs  (March  1,  1517),  that  he  reads  Erasmus  — "  nostrum 
Erasmum,"  he  styles  him  — but  that  his  esteem  for  him  diminishes  daily; 
that  Erasmus  exposes  well  the  ignorance  of  priests  and  monks,  but  does  not 
dwell  sufficiently  on  Christ  and  the  grace  of  God:  "humana  prevalent  in  eo 
plus  quam  divina."  He  comes  to  this  conclusion  reluctantly,  and  is  careful  not 
to  disclose  it,  in  order  not  to  give  aid  to  the  enemies  and  rivals  of  Erasmus. 
Luther's  censure  of  the  levity  of  Erasmus  in  reference  to  the  calamities  of  the 


LUTHER   AND    ERASMUS.  131 

If  we  look  below  the  accidents  of  the  controversy,  and 
cast  aside  particulars  in  which  Luther  was  often  incorrect, 
as  he  was  uncharitable  in  his  general  estimate  of  his  an- 
tagonist, we  must  conclude  that  Luther  was  still  in  the 
right   in    his    judgment    respecting    the    reform    of    the 

Church  is  frequently  expressed.  Erasmus  (April  14,  1519)  wrote  to  the  Elector 
a  letter,  in  which  he  complimented  Luther.  In  writing  to  Spalatin  (May  22, 
1519),  Luther  expresses  his  gratification.  On  the  28th  of  the  previous  March, 
Luther  had  written  a  respectful  letter  to  Erasmus  himself,  in  which  his  talents 
and  services  are  fully  appreciated;  to  which  Erasmus  replied,  in  May,  in  gra- 
cious but  cautious  terms.  Everything  shows  that  Erasmus  was  favorable  to 
Luther,  but  did  not  deem  it  safe  to  betray  the  extent  of  his  sympathy.  His 
position  Luther  fully  understood,  as  is  shown  in  man}'  passages  of  his  letters. 
In  a  letter  to  Spengler  (November  17,  1520)  Luther  remarks  that  he  has  private 
disputes  with  Melancthon  on  the  question  how  far  from  the  right  way  Erasmus 
is  —  Melancthon,  of  course,  being  more  favorable  to  the  great  Humanist.  In  ref- 
erence to  the  advice  of  Erasmus  that  Luther  would  be  more  moderate,  he  writes 
(to  Spalatin,  September  9,  1521)  that  Erasmus  looks  "  non  ad  crucem,  sed  ad  pa- 
cem  'Vmemini  me,  dum  in  praef  atione  sua  in  Novum  Testamentum  de  se  ipso 
diceret:  '  gloriam  facile  contemn  it  Christianus  ' — in  corde  mea  cogitasse  :  '0 
Erasme,  fallen's,  timeo.  Magna  res  est  gloriam  contemnere.'  "  To  Spalatin  (May 
15,  1522),  he  charges  Erasmus  with  betraying,  "in  sua  Epistolarum  farragine," 
his  secret  hostility  to  him  and  his  doctrine,  and  declares  that  he  prefers  an  open 
foe  like  Eck  to  a  tergiversating  person,  now  friendly  and  now  hostile.  To  Caspar 
R;  rner  (May  28,  1522),  he  writes  that  he  is  aware  that  Erasmus  dissents  from 
him  on  predestination,  but  that  he  has  no  feai  of  Erasmus's  eloquence:  "  poten- 
tior  est  Veritas  quam  eloquentia,  potior  spiritus  quam  ingenium,  major  fides 
quam  eruditio."  To  CEcolampadius  (June  20,  1523),  he  speaks  of  the  covert 
hostility  of  Erasmus  to  the  Lutheran  doctrine,  and  characterizes  him  thus: 
"  Linguas  introduxit,  et  a  sacrilegis  studiis  revocavit.  Eorte  et  ipse  cum  Mose 
in  campestribus  Moab  morietur:  nam  ad  meliora  studia(quod  ad  pietatem  perti- 
net)  non  provehit."  In  April,  1524,  Luther  wrote  a  letter  to  Erasmus,  in  which 
he  makes  an  offer  of  peace,  but  in  a  manner  so  condescending  and  with  such 
plain  observations  upon  the  limitations  of  Erasmus  as  to  courage  and  discern- 
ment, that  he  could  not  fail  to  be  irritated  by  it.  In  this  singular  epistle,  which 
was  well  meant  but  very  ill  calculated  to  produce  amity,  Luther  expresses  the 
wish  that  his  friends  would  desist  from  assailing  Erasmus;  as  they  would  do,  it 
is  added,  "  if  they  considered  your  imbecility  and  weighed  the  greatness  of  the 
cause,  which  has  long  since  exceeded  the  measure  of  your  powers."  He  con- 
doles with  his  correspondent  in  view  of  the  great  amount  of  enmity  which  Eras- 
mus had  excited  against  himself,  ''since  mere  human  virtue  such  as  yours  is- 
insufficient  for  such  burdens."  The  reply  of  Erasmus,  though  dignified  in  tone, 
shows  how  deeply  he  was  offended.  In  September  of  the  same  year  he  gave 
way  to  the  importunities  of  the  opponents  of  Luther  and  wrote  his  hook  De 
Libero  Arbitrio,  which  was  followed  by  an  acrimonious  controversy.  From 
this  time  Luther  denounces  him  without  reserve.  He  calls  Erasmus  that  "  most 
vain  animal"  (De  Wette,  iii.  98);  predicts  that  he  will  "fall  between  two 
stools  "  ( Ibi'l.,  427);  and  characterizes  him  in  the  manner  stated  above. 


132  LUTHER   AND   THE   GERMAN   REFORMATION. 

Church.  It  could  not  come  from  literature.  Erasmus 
could  assail  the  outworks,  such  as  the  follies  of  monkery, 
but  the  principles  out  of  which  these  obnoxious  practices 
bad  -rown,  he  would  touch  only  so  far  as  it  could  be 
done  without  danger  to  himself  and  without  disturbance. 
Luther  had  been  himself  a  monk,  not  like  Erasmus  for  a 
brief  time  and  through  compulsion,  but  of  choice,  with  a 
pr<  >f<  >und  inward  consecration.  He  had  personally  tested, 
with  all  sincerity  and  earnestness,  the  prevailing  system 
of  religion,  until  he  discerned  the  wrong  foundations  on 
which  it  rested.  He  saw  that  the  tree  must  be  made  good 
before  the  character  of  the  fruit  could  be  changed.  And 
there  was  still  a  vitality  in  the  old  system  with  which  the 
weapons  of  Erasmus  were  quite  insufficient  to  cope.  It 
is  humiliating  to  see  him  resorting  to  the  Pope's  legate, 
and  then  to  the  Pope  himself,  for  leave  to  read  the 
writings  of  Luther.  It  is  safe  to  affirm  that  the  Eras- 
mian  school  would  eventually  have  been  driven  to  the 
wall  by  the  monastic  party,  which  sooner  or  later  would 
nave  combined  its  energies;  and  that  without  the  sterner 
battle  waged  by  Luther,  the  literary  reformers,  with  their 
lukewarm,  equivocal  position  in  relation  to  fundamental 
principles  would  have  succumbed  to  the  terrors  of  the 
Inquisition.  There  was  certain  to  be  an  aroused,  im- 
placable earnestness  on  the  papal  side;  a  like  spirit  was 
required  in  the  cause  of  reform.  At  the  same  time,  jus- 
tice to  Erasmus  requires  that  he  should  be  judged  rather 
by  his  relation  to  the  preceding  age,  than  by  compari- 
son with  Luther.3  The  forerunner  is  not  to  be  weighed 
by  tin-  standards  of  the  era  which  he  has  helped  to  in- 
troduce. 

As  we  have  touched  on  the  personal  traits  of  Luther  as 
a  controversialist,  it  is  well  to  add  here  that  of  all  men 
he  may  mosl  easily  he  misrepresented.  A  man  of  imagi- 
nation and   feeling,  with  intense  convictions  that  burned 

1  Strauss,   Ulrich  v<<n  Htitten,  p.  481. 


THE   PEASANTS'    WAR.  133 

for  utterance,  lie  never  took  pains  to  measure  his  lan- 
guage. He  put  forth  his  doctrine  in  startling,  paradox- 
ical forms,  out  of  which  a  cold-blooded  critic,  or  artful 
polemic  could  easily  make  contradictions  and  absurdities. 
In  this  respect,  he  was  as  artless  and  careless  as  the 
writers  of  the  Bible.  Like  Paul,  and  on  the  same 
grounds,  he  has  been  charged  with  favoring  an  anti- 
nomian  laxness  and  positive  immorality.  It  is  a  charge 
which  emanates  from  ignorance  or  malice.  It  is  fre- 
quently made  by  plodders  who  are  incapable  of  inter- 
preting the  fervid  utterances,  of  entering  into  the  pro- 
found conceptions  of  a  man  of  genius,  but  are  simply 
shocked  by  them.1 

One  other  event  of  which  we  have  to  speak  is  the 
Peasants'  War.  The  preaching  of  Luther  and  his  asso- 
ciates produced  inevitably  a  ferment,  in  which  tendencies 
to  social  disorder  might  easily  acquire  additional  force. 
The  discontent  of  the  nobles  or  knights  with  the  princes 
sought  to  ally  itself  with  the  new  zeal  in  behalf  of  a 
pure  Gospel ;  but  this  revolt  was  brought  to  an  end  by 
the  defeat  and  death  of  Francis  of  Sickinwn.  The  dis- 
affection  of  the  peasants,  on  account  of  the  oppression 
under  which  they  suffered,  had  long  existed.  It  had  led 
in  several  instances  to  open  insurrection.  Long  before 
the  Reformation  there  had  been  mingled  with  these 
political  tendencies  a  religious  element.2  But  their  dis- 
content was  fomented  by  the  spread  among  them  of  the 
Lutheran  doctrine  of  Christian  liberty,  from  which  they 
drew  inferences  in  accord  with  their  own  aspirations, 
and  by  the  popular  excitement  which  the  Reformation 
kindled.  There  was  a  secular  and  religious  side  to  the 
revolt.  Heavier  burdens  had  been  laid  upon  the  laboring- 
class  by  their  lay  and  ecclesiastical  masters.     The  forcible 

1  The  criticisms  of  Hallam  upon  Luther,  together  with  the  erroneous  state- 
ments of  Sir  William  Hamilton,  are  thoroughly  answered  hy  Archdeacon  Hare, 
Vindication  of  Luther,  etc.  (2d  ed.,  1855). 

2  Ranke,  i.  127. 


134    LUTHER  AND  THE  GERMAN  REFORMATION. 

repression  of  the  evangelical  doctrine  was  an  added  griev- 
ance.    Their  roll  of  complaints  carries  us  forward  to  the 
days  of  the  French  Revolution ;  nor  can  it  be  questioned 
that  many  of  them  called  loudly  for  redress.1       Luther 
had  much  sympathy  with  them  ;  he  advised  mutual  con- 
cessions ;  but  he  was  inflexibly  and  on  principle  opposed 
to  a  resort  to  arms.      He  had  counseled  Sickingen  and 
Hutten  against  it.2      In  general  he  set  his  face  against 
every  attempt  to    remove   the  cause  of  reform  from  the 
arena  of  discussion  to  the  field  of  battle.     What  would 
become  of  schools,   of    teaching,  of   preaching,   he   said, 
when  once  the  sword  was  drawn  ?     It  was  a  part  of  his 
deliberate  resolution  to  keep  the  minds  of  men  upon  the 
main  questions  in  controversy,  that  there  might  be  an  in- 
telligent, enlightened,  free  adoption  of  the  truth.     The 
peasants,  he  held,  had  no  right  to  make  an  insurrection. 
Like  the  early  Christians,  he  felt    that  it  was  a  spirit- 
ual agency  and  not  force  that  could  give  to  the  truth  a 
real  victory.     He  wanted  to  keep  the  cause  of  God  clear 
of  the    entanglements  of  worldly  prudence  and  worldly 
power.     Hence,  when  their  great  rebellion  broke  out,  in 
1524  and  1525,  he  exhorted  the  princes  to  put  it  down 
with  a  strong  hand.     He  saw,  in  the  event  of  the  success 
of  it,  nothing  but  the  destruction  of  civil  order   and  a 
wild  reign  of  fanaticism.8     The  abolition  of  all  existing 
authority  in  Church  and  state,  equality  in  rank  and  in 
property,  were  a  part  of  the  peasants'  creed.     If  the  fact 
of   tip-  revolt,  evidently  occasioned  as  it  was,  to  some  ex- 
tent, by  the   Reformation,  produced  a  temporary  reaction 

1  EJausser,  6m  h.  </.  Z<  Halt.  >J.  Re/.,  p.  103  seq. ;  Ranke,  Deutsche  Gsih.,  i.  134. 

-  Letter  to  Spalatia  (January  L6,  L521),  De  Wette,  i.  543. 

■  Ranke,  Deutsche  Gsck.,  i.  L49.  Waddington  (ii.  154  seq.),  and  other  writers, 
censure  Luther  with  much  severity  for  liis  denunciation  of  the  p  sasants.  But 
Luther  considered  that  there  was  a  fearful  crisis,  in  which  the  foundations  of 
KM  iety  wen-  in  peril.  The  insurrection  was  very  formidable  in  numbers  and 
strength. 


THE   PEASANTS'    WAR.  135 

against  it,  this  effect  was  diminished  by  the  outspoken, 
strenuous  opposition  which  Luther  had  made  to  the  ill- 
fated  enterprise.  The  Reformation  is  not  responsible  for 
the  Peasants'  War.  It  would  have  taken  place  if  the 
Protestant  doctrines  had  not  been  preached ;  and  it  was 
caused  by  inveterate  abuses  for  which  the  ecclesiastical 
princes  in  Germany,  by  their  extortions  and  tyranny, 
were  chiefly  accountable. 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE  GERMAN  REFORMATION  TO  THE  PEACE  OF  AUGS- 
BURG, 1555:  ZWINGLE  AND  THE  SWISS  (GERMAN) 
REFORMATION. 

At  the  time  when  Luther  was  beginning  to  attract  the 
attention  of  Europe,  another  reformatory  movement,  of  a 
type  somewhat  peculiar,  was  springing  up  on  a  more  con- 
tracted theatre.  In  the  fifteenth  century,  the  Swiss, 
whose  military  strength  had  been  developed  in  their  long 
and  victorious  struggle  for  independence,  and  who  had 
done  much  to  revolutionize  the  art  of  war  by  showing 
that  infantry  might  be  more  than  a  match  for  cavalry, 
were  employed  in  large  numbers,  as  mercenary  soldiers, 
in  Italy.  The  Pope  and  the  French  King  were  the  chief 
competitors  in  efforts  to  secure  these  valuable  auxiliaries. 
The  means  by  which  this  was  accomplished  were  de- 
moralizing in  their  influence  upon  the  country.  The 
foreign  potentates  purchased,  by  bribes  and  pensions, 
the  cooperation  of  influential  persons  among  the  Swiss, 
and  thus  corrupted  the  spirit  of  patriotism.  The  patron- 
age of  the  Church  was  used  in  an  unprincipled  manner, 
for  the  furtherance  of  this  worldly  interest  of  the  Pope. 
Ecclesiastical  discipline  was  sacrificed,  preferments  and 
indulgences  lavishly  bestowed,  in  order  that  the  hardy 
peasantry  might  be  enticed  from  their  homes  to  fight  his 
battles  in  the  Italian  peninsula.  These  brought  home 
from  their  campaigns  vicious  and  lawless  habits.  At  the 
same  time,  in  consequence   of    what  they  witnessed  in 


zwingle's  education.  137 

Italy,  much  of  their  reverence  for  the  rulers  of  the  Church 
was  dispelled.  The  corrupt  administration  of  the  Church 
had  a  like  effect  on  their  countrymen  who  remained  at 
home.  Thus  there  was  a  combination  of  agencies  which 
operated  to  debase  the  morals  of  the  Swiss  people,  at  the 
same  time  that  their  superstitious  awe  for  ecclesiastical 
superiors  was  vanishing.  The  influence  of  the  literary 
culture  of  the  age,  also,  made  itself  felt  in  Switzerland. 
High  schools  had  sprung  up  in  various  cities.  A  circle  of 
men  who  were  interested  in  classical  literature  and  were 
gradually  acquiring  more  enlightened  ideas  in  religion, 
had  their  centre  in  Basel,  where  Erasmus  took  up  his 
abode  in  1516  and  became  their  acknowledged  head.1 

Ulrich  Zwingle,  the  founder  of  Protestantism  in  Swit- 
zerland, was  born  on  the  1st  of  January,  1484,  in  Wild- 
haus,  an  obscure  town  situated  high  on  the  mountains 
which  overlook  the  valley  of  Toggenburg.  He  was  only 
a  few  weeks  younger  than  Luther.  The  father  of 
Zwingle  was  the  principal  magistrate  of  the  town.2 
Young  Zwingle  spent  his  boyhood  at  home,  until  he  was 
sent  to  school  first  at  Basel,  and  then  at  Berne.  Bright- 
minded  and  eager  for  knowledge,  he  was  also  early  dis- 
tinguished for  his  love  of  truth,  which  never  ceased  to  be 
one  of  the  marked  virtues  of  his  character.  Like  Luther, 
he  had  an  extraordinary  talent  for  music.  He  learned 
afterwards  to  play  on  various  instruments.  Among  his 
associates  at  the  University  of  Vienna,  where  he  was  first 
placed,  was  the  famous  Eck ;  and  at  Basel,  to  which 
place  he  was  transferred,  Capito  and  Leo  Juda,  who  were 
to  be  his  confederates  in  the  work  of  reform,  were  among 
his  fellow-students.  Here  his  principal  teacher  was 
Thomas  Wyttenbach,  a  man  of  liberal  tendencies,  as  well 
as  of    devout  character,  who  predicted  the  downfall  of 

1  There  was  a  literary  public.     See  Ranke,  Deutsch.  Gsch.,  ii.  40,  41. 

2  See  the  account  of  Zwingle's  family  in  the  excellent  biography  of  J.  C. 
Morikofer,  Ulrich  Zwingli  nach  den  urkundlichen  Quellen,  2  vols.  (1867) 


138  THE   ZWINGLIAN   REFORMATION. 

the  scholastic    theology,  and  imparted   impulses  to  his 
pupils  which    eventually  carried  them    beyond  his  own 
position.     Zwingle  was  a  zealous  student  of   the  Latin 
classics,  and  after  becoming  a  pastor  at  Glarus,  he  prose- 
rin ed  the  reading  of  the  Roman  authors,  partly  for  the 
truth  which  he  loved  to  seek  in  them,  and  partly  to  make 
himself  an  orator.     He  entered,  also,  with  diligence  upon 
the  study  of  Greek.     He  carefully  copied  with  his  own 
hand  the  epistles  of  Paul  in  the  original,  that  he  might 
have  them  in   a   portable  volume   and  commit  them  to 
memory.      More    and   more  he  devoted   himself    to  the 
examination  of  the  Bible  and  deferred  to  its  authority. 
He  read   the   Fathers,   as    counselors,  not    as    authorita- 
tive guides.     He  was  obliged  to  leave  Glarus,  on  account 
of  his  bold  opposition  to  the  system  of  pensions  and  of 
mercenary  service    under    the   French.       Zwingle  was  a 
thorough  patriot  from  his  early  boyhood.     He  listened  by 
the  hearthstone  to  tales  of  gallant  work  done  by  his  rela- 
tives and  townsmen  in  the  recent  war  against  Charles  of 
Burgundy.     As  he  grew  older  he  witnessed  the  delete- 
rious effect  of  the  French  influence,   to  which  we  have 
adverted.     He  saw,  moreover,  the  low  condition  of  morals 
among  the  clergy,  and  became  more  alive  to  the  deplor- 
able state  of  things  from  the  bitter  compunction  which 
his  own  compliance  with  temptation  in  a  single  instance, 
cost  him.1     At  first  he  did  not  look  upon  military  service 
which  was  rendered  at  the  call  of  the  Pope,  the  Head  of 
the  Church,  with  the  same  disapprobation  which  he  felt 
in   regard   to  the   French.      He    even    accompanied  his 
parishioners  to  Avar,  and  was   present   on   the    field   of 
Marignano.     He,  moreover,  thought  it  no  wrong  to  re- 
ceive a  pension  from  the  Pope,  which  was  first  given  him 
for  the  purchase  of  books.      But  his  public  opposition  at 

I  Leben  und  Ausgewahlte  Sckrifien  d.  Voter  u.  Begriinder  d.  Ref.  Kirche: 
Christoffel,  Euldreich  Zwingle,  Leben  u.  Ausgewahlte  Schriften,  i.  10; 
Opera  Zwinglii,  viii.  54  seq. 


ZWINGLE   OPPOSES  THE   SALE   OF  INDULGENCES.         139 

Glarus  to  the  French  party,  which  was  strong  there, 
obliged  him  to  leave  and  to  take  up  his  abode  at  a 
smaller  place,  Einsiedeln,  where  he  took  the  office  of 
pastor  and  preacher  in  the  Church  of  the  Virgo  Eremi- 
tana  —  Virgin  of  the  Hermitage.  This  was  in  1516. 
Here  was  a  cloister  as  well  as  a  church,  with  a  store  of 
legends.  It  was  the  chief  resort  of  pilgrims  from  all  the 
adjacent  region.  Indulgences  were  liberally  bestowed, 
and  a  picture  of  Mary,  of  peculiar  sanctity,  attracted 
crowds  of  devotees.  Zwingle,  without  directly  assailing 
the  worship  of  the  Virgin,  preached  to  the  throng  of 
visitors  the  doctrine  of  salvation  by  Christ,  and  of  his 
mercy  and  sufficiency  as  a  Saviour,  which  had  been  more 
and  more  impressed  on  his  mind  by  the  investigation  of 
the  Scriptures.  The  people  felt  that  they  were  hearing 
new  truth,  and  a  striking  effect  was  produced  on  many. 
He  had  now  fully  made  up  his  mind  to  go  to  the  Word 
of  God  as  the  ultimate  authority,  in  preference  to  the 
dogmas  of  men.  To  individuals,  to  his  friend  Capito  and 
to  Cardinal  Sitten,  he  stated  that  he  found  in  the  Scrip- 
tures no  foundation  for  the  rule  of  the  Papacy.1  He 
even  said  to  Capito,  in  1517,  that  he  thought  the 
Papacy  must  fall.  In  1518,  he  preached  against  one 
Samson,  who,  like  Tetzel,  was  a  peddler  of  indulgences, 
so  that  the  traffic  was  stopped  in  the  Canton  of  Schweitz, 
and  Samson  obliged  to  decamp.  In  1519,  owing  very 
much  to  the  influence  of  leading  opponents  of  the  French 
party,  Zwingle  was  transferred  to  the  Cathedral  Church 
of  Zurich,  then  a  city  of  about  seven  thousand  inhabit- 
ants. Here  he  carried  out  his  purpose,  which  he  an- 
nounced at  the  outset,  of  expounding  the  Bible  to  his 
hearers,  and  of  inculcating  the  truth  which  lie  found  there. 
In  this  way,  in  sermons  which  were  heard  by  a  multitude 
with  eager  interest,  he  went  through  the  Gospel  of  Mat- 
thew.    He  explained,  also,  the  epistles  of  Paul ;  and  for 

i  Christoffel,  i.  24. 


140  THE   ZWINGLIAN    REFORMATION. 

fear  that  some  would  have  less  respect  for  Paul,  as  he  was 
not  one  of  the  twelve,  he  showed  the  identity  of  Peter's 
doctrine  by  an  exposition  of  his  epistles.  He  had  great 
power  as  a  preacher  :  one  of  his  hearers  said  that  it 
seemed  to  him  that  Zwingle  held  him  by  the  hair  of  his 
head.  When  Samson  appeared  with  his  indulgences  (in 
1519),  he  again  denounced  him  and  his  trade,  and  was 
supported  in  his  opposition  by  the  Bishop  of  Constance, 
to  whom  Samson  had  neglected  to  exhibit  his  credentials  ; 
so  that  the  friar  was  denied  permission  to  vend  his  wares 
in  Zurich.  Zwingle  was  a  man  of  robust  health,  cheer- 
ful countenance  and  kindly  manners,  affable  with  all 
classes ;  a  man  of  indefatigable  industry,  yet  enjoying 
domestic  life  to  the  full  —  he  was  married  in  1524  —  and 
fond  of  spending  an  evening  at  the  inn,  in  familiar  con- 
versation with  magistrates  or  leading  citizens,  or  with 
strangers  who  happened  to  be  present.1  Upright,  hum- 
ble before  God,  but  fearless  before  men,  devoted  to  the 
work  of  a  preacher  and  pastor,  but  taking  an  active  part 
in  whatever  concerned  the  well-being  of  his  country, 
Zwingle  acquired  by  degrees,  though  not  without  oppo- 
sition and  occasional  exposure  to  extreme  danger,  a  con- 
trolling influence  in  Zurich.  A  turning  point  in  his 
career  was  the  public  disputation,  which  was  held  at  his 
own  request,  under  the  auspices  of  the  government  of 
Zurich,  on  the  29th  of  January,  1523,  in  the  great 
Council  Hall,  where  he  had  proposed  to  defend  himself 
againsl  all  who  chose  to  bring  against  him  charges  of 
heresy.  I  h'  had  really  won  the  battle  beforehand,  in 
persuading  (he  Council  to  take  the  part  of  judges,  and  to 
have  all  questions  decided  by  reference  to  the  Scriptures 
alone.  In  an  open  space,  in  the  midst  of  an  assembly  of 
more  than  six  hundred  men,  he  sat  by  a  table,  on  which  he 

i  "Seriisel  jocos miscuit  et  ludos:  nam  ingenio  amoenus,  et  ore  jucundus 
Bupra  quam  dici  poesit,  erat.  Dein  musices  omnis  generis  instruments  perdi- 
dicit  et  exercuit,  non  nisi  at  ingenio  seriis  illis  defstigsto  et  recreari  et  ad  ea 
paratioi  redire  posset."    Myconios,  Vita  Uuld.  Zwinglii,  iii. 


zwingle's  theological  principles.  141 

had  placed  the  Hebrew  and  Greek  Scriptures  and  the  Latin 
version.  His  triumphant  maintenance  of  his  opinions 
against  his  feeble  assailants,  resulted  in  an  injunction  from 
the  Council  to  persevere  in  preaching  from  the  Scriptures 
alone,  and  a  like  command  to  all  the  clergy  to  teach 
nothing  which  the  Scriptures  do  not  warrant.  In  this 
conference  he  defended?  sixty-seven  propositions  which 
were  leveled  against  the  system  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church.  The  authority  of  the  Gospel  is  substituted  for 
the  authority  of  the  Church  ;  the  Church  is  declared  to 
be  the  communion  of  the  faithful,  who  have  no  head  but 
Christ ;  salvation  is  through  faith  in  Him  as  the  only 
priest  and  intercessor  ;  the  Papacy  and  the  mass,  invoca- 
tion of  saints,  justification  by  works,  fasts,  festivals,  pil- 
grimages, monastic  orders  and  the  priesthood,  auricular 
confession,  absolution,  indulgences,  penances,  purgatory, 
and  indeed  all  the  characteristic  peculiarities  of  the  Ro- 
man Catholic  creed  and  cultus  are  rejected.  Jurisdic- 
tion over  the  authorities  of  the  Church  is  claimed  for  the 
civil  magistrates.1  Again,  in  another  disputation,  before  a 
much  more  numerous  audience,  on  the  26th  of  October 
following,  he  obtained  a  decree  of  the  Council  against 
the  use  of  images  and  the  sacrifice  of  the  mass.  After  a 
severe  contest,  he  established  the  principle  that  the  fasts 
of  the  Church  are  optional,  not  obligatory.  In  all  the 
changes  of  this  sort,  radical  as  they  were,  extending  even 
to  the  disuse  of  the  organ  in  the  minster,  Zwingle  pro- 
ceeded temperately,  with  the  same  regard  to  weak  con- 
sciences which  Luther  had  shown,  and  taking  care  that 
everything  should  be  done  in  an  orderly  manner,  and  by 
public  authority.  Like  Luther,  he  had  a  contest  to  sus- 
tain with  Anabaptist  enthusiasts.  Zurich,  separated 
from  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Bishop  of  Constance,  became 
a  Church,  at  the  head  of  which  were  the  magistrates, 
who  were  proper  representatives,  in  Zwingkrs  view,  of 
the  body  of  the  congregation  (1524). 

1  Zwingle,  Opera,  -ii.  Herzog,  R<  'il-KncycL,  art.  "Zwingli,"  xviii.  716. 


142  THE   ZWINGLIAN   REFORMATION. 

In  1525  Zwingle  published  his  principal  work,  the 
"  Commentary  on  True  and  False  Religion,"  which  was 
dedicated  to  Francis  I.;  and,  about  the  same  time,  a 
treat ise  on  original  sin.  In  these  and  other  writings  he 
set  forth  his  theological  system.  In  most  points  he  coin- 
cides with  the  usual  Protestant  doctrine.  But,  as  will 
be  explained,  he  departed  farther*  from  the  old  system  in 
his  conception  of  the  sacraments ;  he  ascribed  to  them  a 
less  important  function ;  and  he  considered  original  sin 
a  disorder  rather  than  a  state  involving  guilt.1  It  is  re- 
markable that  Zwingle  in  his  philosophy  was  a  predesti- 
narian  of  an  extreme  type,  and  anticipated  Calvinism  in 
avowing  the  supralapsarian  tenet ;  in  this  particular  going 
beyond  Augustine.  But  he  held  that  Christ  has  redeemed 
the  entire  race,  which  has  been  lost  in  Adam  ;  and  that 
infants,  not  only  such  as  are  unbaptized  in  Christian 
lands,  but  the  offspring  of  the  heathen,  also,  are  all 
saved.  Moreover,  he  did  not  accept  the  prevailing  belief 
in  the  universal  condemnation  of  the  heathen.  The  pas- 
sages of  Scripture  which  seem  to  assert  this  he  regarded 
as  intended  to  apply  only  to  such  as  hear  the  Gospel  and 
willfully  reject  it.  The  divine  election  and  the  illumina- 
tion of  the  Spirit  are  not  confined,  he  thought,  within  the 
circle  of  revealed  religion,  or  to  those  who  receive  the 
Word  and  sacraments.  The  virtues  of  heathen  sao-es  and 
heroes  are  due  to  divine  grace.  By  grace  they  were  led 
fco  exercise  faith  in  God.  A  Socrates,  he  says,  was  more 
pious  and  holy  than  all  Dominicans  and  Franciscans.  On 
the  catalogue  of  saints  with  the  patriarchs  and  prophets 
of  the  Old  Testament  he  associates,  besides  Socrates,  the 
names  of  the  Scipios,  Camillas,  the  Catos,  Numa,  Aristi- 
<les,  Seneca,  Pindar,  even  Theseus  and  Hercules.2     The 

'  IIi<  (.pinion  mi  this  subject  varied  somewhat  at  different  times.  See  Zeller, 
Das  theol.  8yst.  Zwmglu  dargetteUt  (Abdruck  aus  Jahrg.  1853,  Theol.  Jahrb.) 
p.  51  seq. 

-  /•'/-/,  i  Eacpotitio,  Opera,  iv.  65.  "  Non  fuit  vir  bonus,  non  erit  mens  sancta, 
non  fidelia  anima,  ab  ipso  mundi  exordio  usque  ad  ejus  consummationem,  quern 
non  sis  istliic  cum  Deo  visurus." 


THE  REFORMATION  SPREADS  FROM  ZURICH.     143 

influence  of  Zwingle's  humanistic  culture  is  obvious  in 
this  portion  of  his  teaching.  "  He  had  busied  himself," 
says  Neander,  "  with  the  study  of  antiquity,  for  which  he 
had  a  predilection,  and  had  not  the  right  criterion  for 
distinguishing  the  ethical  standing-point  of  Christianity 
from  that  of  the  ancients."  2 

From  Zurich  the  Reformation  spread.  In  Basel  it  had 
for  a  leader  CEcolampadius,  who  had  belonged  to  the 
school  of  Erasmus,  was  an  erudite  scholar  of  mild  temper, 
and  in  his  general  tone  resembled  Melancthon.  In  that 
city  it  gained  the  upper  hand  in  1529.  In  Berne  it  was 
established  after  a  great  public  disputation,  at  which 
Zwingle  was  present,  in  1528.  The  same  change  took 
place  in  St.  Gall  and  Schaffhausen. 

This  ecclesiastical  revolution  was  at  the  same  time  a 
political  one.  There  was  a  contest  between  the  republi- 
can and  reforming  party  on  the  one  hand,  who  were  bent 
on  purifying  the  country  from  the  effects  of  foreign  in- 
fluence, from  the  corruption  of  morals  and  of  patriotism 
which  had  resulted  from  that  source,  and  an  oligarchy, 
on  the  other,  who  clung  to  their  pensions,  and  to  the  sys- 
tem of  mercenary  service  with  which  their  power  was 
connected.  The  party  of  Zwingle  were  contending  for 
a  social  and  national  reform,  on  a  religious  foundation. 
They  aimed  to  make  the  Gospel  not  only  a  source  of 
light  and  life  to  the  individual,  but  a  renovating  power  in 
the  body  politic,  for  effecting  the  reform  of  the  social  life 
and  of  the  civil  organization  of  the  country. 

We  have  now  to  consider  the  relation  of  the  Lutheran 
and  Zwinglian  movements  to  one  another.     There  were 

1  Dogrnengescliichte,  ii.  263.  On  this  topic  Neander  has  written  an  able  dis- 
cussion: Uber  das  Verhaltniss  d.  heUenischen  Ethik  zur  Christlichen  ;  Wissen- 
chaftl.  Abhandlungen,  p.  140.  It  had  not  been  uncommon  for  the  strictest  Roman 
Catholics  to  believe  in  the  salvation  of  Aristotle.  Of  Zwingle,  Henri  Martin 
says  {Hhtoire  de  France,  viii.  156):  "  On  peut  consideVer  l'eeuvre  de  Zuin^li 
comme  le  plus  puissant  effort  qui  4te  fait  pour  sanctiherla  Renaissance  et  l'unir 
a  la  Rt'forme  en  Je'sus  Christ." 


144  THE   ZWINGLIAN   REFORMATION. 

great  differences  between  the  two  leaders.  Luther  had, 
so  to  speak,  lived  into  the  system  of  the  Latin  Church  to 
a  degree  that  was  not  true  in  the  case  of  Zwingle.  Out 
of  profound  agitation,  through  long  mental  struggles,  in 
which  he  received  little  aid  or  direction  from  abroad, 
Luther  had  come  out  of  the  old  system.  It  was  a  process 
of  personal  experience  with  which  his  intellectual  enlight- 
enment kept  pace.  One  truth,  that  of  salvation  by  faith, 
in  contrast  with  salvation  by  the  merit  of  works,  stood 
prominently  before  the  eyes  of  Luther.  The  method  of 
forgiveness,  of  reconciliation  with  God,  had  been  with 
him,  from  his  early  youth,  the  one  engrossing  problem. 
The  relation  of  the  individual  to  God  had  absorbed  his 
thoughts  and  moved  his  sensibilities  to  the  lowest  depths. 
The  renunciation  of  the  authority  of  the  Church  was  an 
act  to  which  nothing  would  have  driven  him  but  the  force 
of  his  convictions  respecting  the  central  truth  of  justifica- 
tion by  faith  alone.  The  course  of  Zwingle's  personal 
development  had  been  different.  Of  cheerful  temper  and 
fond  of  his  classics,  he  had  felt  no  inclination  to  the  mo- 
nastic  life.  He  came  out  of  the  Erasmian  school.  The 
authority  of  the  Church  never  had  a  very  strong  hold 
upon  him,  even  before  he  explicitly  questioned  the  validity 
of  it.  As  he  studied  the  Scriptures  and  felt  their  power, 
he  easily  gave  to  them  the  allegiance  of  his  mind  and 
heart.  It  cost  him  little  inward  effort  to  cast  off  what- 
ever in  the  doctrinal  or  ecclesiastical  system  of  the  Latin 
Church  appeared  to  him  at  variance  with  the  Bible  or 
with  common  sense.  In  his  mind  there  was  no  hard  con- 
flict with  an  established  prejudice.  It  would  be  very 
unjust  to  deny  to  Zwingle  religious  earnestness;  but  the 
course  of  his  inward  life  was  Buch  that,  although  he 
heartily  accepted  the  principle  of  justification  by  faith, 
lie  had  n<»t  the  same  vivid  idea  of  its  transcendent  impor- 
tance which  Lather  had.  Zwingle,  a  bold  and  independ- 
ent  student,  took  the  Bible  for  his  chart,  and  was  de- 


LUTHER   AND    ZWINGLE    COMPARED.  145 

terred  by  no  scruples  of  latent  reverence  from  abruptly 
discarding  usages  which  the  Bible  did  not  sanction.  While 
Luther  was  disposed  to  leave  untouched  what  the  Bible 
did  not  prohibit,  Zwingle  was  more  inclined  to  reject, 
what  the  Bible  did  not  enjoin.  Closely  related  to  this 
difference  in  personal  character,  is  the  very  important  di- 
versity in  the  aims  of  the  two  reformers.  Luther  was 
practical,  in  one  sense  of  the  term  ;  he  sympathized  with 
the  homely  feelings,  as  he  was  master  of  the  homely  lan- 
guage of  the  people.  No  man  knew  better  how  to  reach 
their  hearts.  He  was  a  German  who  was  inspired  with 
a  national  sentiment,  and  indignantly  resented  the  wrongs 
inflicted  upon  his  country.  But  his  aim  was  throughout 
a  distinctly  religious  one.  He  drew  a  sharp  line  between 
the  function  which  he  conceived  to  belong  to  him,  as  a 
preacher  and  theologian,  and  the  sphere  of  political  ac- 
tion. Absorbed  in  the  truth  which  he  considered  the  life 
and  soul  of  the  Gospel,  and  intent  upon  propagating  it, 
he  had  no  special  aptitude  for  the  organization  of  the 
Church  ;  much  less  did  he  meddle  with  the  affairs  of  civil 
government,  except  in  the  character  of  a  minister,  to  en- 
join obedience  to  established  authority.  Zwingle's  aim 
and  work  were  so  diverse,  his  turn  of  mind  and  his  cir- 
cumstances being  so  different,  that  Luther  and  the  other 
Saxon  theologians  were  slow  in  understanding  him  and  in 
doing  justice  to  him.1  Zwingle  was  a  patriot  and  a  social- 
reformer.  The  salvation  of  his  country  from  misgovern- 
ment  and  immorality  was  an  end,  inseparable,  in  his 
mind,  from  the  effort  to  bring  individuals  to  the  practical, 
acceptance  of  the  Gospel.2  The  Swiss  people  must  be 
lifted  up  from  their  degeneracy;  and  the  instrument  of 

1  There  is  an  excellent  essay  by  Hundeshagen,  Zur  Characteristik  Ulrich 
Zwinglis  u.  seines  Reformationswerkes  water  Vergleichuny  mil  Luther  und 
Calvin.     Studienu.  Kritiken,  L862.  4. 

2  Of  his  attack  upon  the  system  of  pensions,  his  friend  Myconius  says: 
"  Himc  videbat  tunc  demum  doctrinaj  coelesti  locum  futurum,  ubi  f ons  nialorum 
esset  exhaustns  omnium." — Vita  Ztoinglii,  iv. 

10 


146  THE   ZWIXGLIAX   REFORMATION. 

doing  this  was  the  truth  of  the  Bible,  to  be  applied  not 
only  to  the  individual  in  his  personal  relations  to  God, 
but  also  to  correct  abuses  in  the  social  and  civil  life  of  the 
nation.  These  grew  out  of  selfishness,  and  there  was  no 
cure  for  that  save  in  the  Word  of  God.  After  Zwingle 
renounced  the  Pope's  pension,  and  declined  his  flattering 
offer  to  make  it  larger,  and  took  his  stand  against  foreign 
influence,  come  from  what  quarter  it  might,  which  at- 
tained its  ends  at  the  cost  of  national  corruption,  he  re- 
sembled in  his  position,  in  his  mingled  patriotism  and 
piety,  the  old  Hebrew  prophets.  "  The  Cardinal  of  Sit- 
ten,,'  he  said,  "  with  right  wears  a  red  hat  and  cloak  ; 
you  have  only  to  wring  them  and  you  will  behold  the 
blood  of  your  nearest  kinsmen  dripping  from  them  ! " 
He  would  have  the  Swiss  abstain  from  all  these  dishonor- 
able, pernicious  alliances. 

The  question  of  priority  as  to  time,  between  Luther's 
movement  and  that  of  Zwingle,  has  often  been  discussed. 
Zwingle  asserted  with  truth  that  his  opinions  concerning 
the  authority  of  the  Scriptures  and  the  method  of  salva- 
tion, were  formed  independently  of  the  influence,  of  Luther. 
It  is  true  that,  independently  of  Luther,  Zwingle,  as 
cinlv  as  15 Is,  preached  against  the  sale  of  indulgences. 
But  the  expressions  of  Zwingle  en  these  topics  were  such 
as  might  be  heard  elsewhere  from  other  good  men.  In 
this  matter  he  had  the  support  of  the  Bishop  of  Con- 
stance, and  did  not  incur  the  displeasure  of  Leo  X.,  who 
had,  perhaps,  learned  moderation  from  the  occurrences  in 
Saxony.  The  great  point  in  Luther's  case  was  his  collis- 
ion with  the  authority  of  the  Church.  It  is  justly  claimed 
for  Luther  that  he  broke  the  path  in  this  momentous  and 
perilous  conflict.  When  Luther  was  put  under  the  ban 
of  the  Church,  Zwingle  was  still  the  recipient  of  a  pen- 
sion from  the  Pope.  When  Luther  at  Worms,  in  the 
face  of  the  German  Empire,  refused  to  submit  to  the 
authority  of   Lope  or  Council.  Zwingle  had  not  yet  been 


THE   EUCHAEISTIC    CONTROVERSY.  147 

seriously  attacked.  As  late  as  1523  he  received  a  com- 
plimentary letter  from  Pope  Adrian  VI.  Zwingle  from 
the  beginning  was  treated  with  the  utmost  forbearance, 
from  the  concern  of  the  papal  court  for  its  political  and 
selfish  interests.  These  circumstances  involve  nothing 
discreditable  to  Zwingle,  when  the  whole  history  of  his 
relations  to  the  Papacy  is  understood.  But  they  demon- 
strate that  the  distinction  of  sounding  the  trumpet  of 
revolt  against  the  Roman  see  belongs  to  the  Saxon  re- 
former. Luther's  voice,  which  was  heard  in  every  country 
of  Europe,  reached  the  valleys  of  Switzerland.  It  was  then 
that  Zwingle  was  charged  by  his  enemies  with  being  a 
follower  of  Luther.  This  he  denied,  at  the  same  time 
that  he  avowed  his  agreement  with  Luther  in  the  great 
points  of  doctrine,  and  courageously  spoke  of  him  in 
terms  of  warm  praise.  But  it  was  the  noise  of  the  battle 
which  Luther  was  waging  that  opened  the  eyes  of  men 
to  the  real  drift  of  Zwingle's  teaching. 

An  unhappy  event  for  the  cause  of  the  Reformation 
was  the  outbreaking  of  the  great  controversy  between  the 
Lutherans  and  the  Swiss,  upon  the  Eucharist.  In  1524, 
at  the  very  time  when  the  division  of  Germany  into  two 
hostile  parties,  Protestant  and  Catholic,  was  taking  place, 
the  evangelical  forces  were  weakened  by  this  intestine 
conflict.1  The  doctrine  of  transubstantiation  is  not  a  doc- 
trine of  the  ancient  Church.  The  view  of  Augustine, 
which  was  that  a  spiritual  power  is  imparted  to  the  bread 
and  wine,  analogous  to  the  virtue  supposed  to  inhere  in 
the  baptismal  water,  long  prevailed  in  the  Latin  Church, 
even  after  the  more  extreme  opinion  had  been  broached 
by  John  of  Damascus  and  the  Greek  theologians.  This 
is  evident  from  the  effect  that  was  produced  when  literal 
transubstantiation,  or  the  conversion  of  the  bread  and 
wine  into  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ,  was  advocated 
in  the  ninth  century  by  Radbert,  the  Abbot  of  Corvey. 

1  Ranke,  Deutsch.  Gsch.  ii.  59. 


148  THE   ZW1NGLIAN   REFORMATION. 

This  theory  was  opposed  by  his  contemporaries,  Rabanus 
Maurus  and  by  Ratramnus,  who  adhered  to  the  views  of 
Ausrustine.  The  bread  and  wine  nourish  the  body,  but 
the  spiritual  power  imparted  to  them  —  the  spiritual 
body  of  Christ,  of  which  they  are  the  sign  —  is  received 
by  faith  and  nourishes  the  soul  to  an  immortal  life.  In 
the  eleventh  century,  the  view  of  Radbert  had  so  far 
gained  the  ascendency  that  B.erengar,  who  defended  the 
more  ancient  theory,  was  condemned,  although  it  was 
claimed  that  his  opinion  was  favored  by  Hildebrand. 
Transubstantiation,  the  change  of  substance,  was  defended 
by  the  leading  schoolmen  of  the  thirteenth  century,  and 
was  made  an  article  of  faith  by  the  fourth  Lateran  Coun- 
cil, in  1215,  under  Innocent  III. 

The  Reformers,  with  one  accord,  denied  this  dogma, 
together  with  the  associated  doctrine  of  the  sacrificial 
character  of  the  Eucharist.  But  in  other  respects  they 
were  not  a '''reed  anions  themselves.  Luther  affirmed  the 
actual,  objective  presence  of  the  glorified  body  and  blood 
of  Christ,  in  connection  with  the  bread  and  wine,  so  that 
the  body  and  blood,  in  some  mysterious  way,  are  received 
by  the  communicant  whether  he  be  a  believer  or  not.  It 
is  the  doctrine  of  two  substances  in  the  sacrament,  or  con- 
substantiation.  His  doctrine  included  a  belief  in  the 
ubiquity  of  the  human  nature  of  the  ascended  Christ. 
Zwingle,  on  the  contrary,  had  come  to  consider  the  Lord's 
Supper  as  having  principally  a  mnemonic  significance; 
as  a  s\ ml)  >1  of  the  atoning  death  of  Christ  and  a-  token  or 
pledge  —  as  a  ring  would  be  a  pledge — of  its  continual 
efficacy.1  A  middle  view,  which  was  that  of  Calvin,  though 
BUgg  sted  by  others  before  him,  was  that  of  a  real  but 
spiritual  reception  of  Christ,  by  the  believer  alone,  where- 
by there  is  implanted  in  the  soul  the  sferra  of  a  glorified 
body  or  form  of  being  Like  that  of  Christ.  In  this  view 
the  elements  are   the   symbol,  the  pledge,  or  authentica- 

t  This  idea  of  a  token  or  pledge,  however,  he  soon  dropped.    Mlrikofer,  ii.  197. 


luther's  hostility  to  the  sackamentarians.    149 

tion  of  the  grace  of  God  through  the  death  of  Christ ; 
and  at  the  same,  time  to  the  believer,  though  to  no  other, 
Christ  is  himself  mysteriously  and  spiritually  imparted, 
as  the  power  of  a  new  life — the  power  of  resurrection. 
From  the  human  nature  of  Christ,  which  is  now  exalted 
to  heaven,  or  from  his  flesh,  there  enters  into  the  soul  of 
the  believer  a  life-giving  influence,  so  that  he  is  united  in 
the  most  intimate  union  to  the  Saviour.1 

The  vehemence  of  Luther's  hostility  to  the  Zwinglian 
doctrine  is  manifest  in  his  correspondence  for  a  consider- 
able period  after  the  rise  of  the  controversy.  There  were 
no  terms  of  opprobrium  too  violent  for  him  to  apply  to 
the  tenet  and  the  persons  of  the  Sacramentarians.  There 
were  times  when  for  special  reasons  —  chiefly  from  the 
hope  that  they  were  coming  over  to  his  opinion  —  his 
hostility  was  sensibly  abated.  But  his  abhorrence  of  the 
Zwinglian  doctrine  never  left  him.  The  reasons  that 
misled   him  into  an    intolerant  and    uncharitable  course 

1  Luther  did  not  hold  that  the  heavenly  body  of  Christ,  which  is  offered  and 
received  in  the  sacrament,  occupies  space.  Yet  it  is  received  by  all  who  partake 
of  the  bread  and  wine  —  not  a  portion  of  the  body,  but  the  entire  Christ  by  each 
communicant.  It  is  received,  in  some  proper  sense,  with  the  mouth.  Sometimes 
he  uses  crass  expressions  on  this  point.  See,  for  example,  the  instructions  to 
Melancthon  for  the  conference  with  Bucer  at  Cassel :  "  Und  ist  summa  das  unser 
Meinung,  dass  wahrhaftig  in  und  mit  dem  Brod  der  Leib  Christ i  gessenwird, 
also  dass  alles,  was  das  Brod  wirket  und  leidet,  der  Leib  Christi  wirke  und  leide, 
das  er  ausgetheilt,  gessen,  und  mit  denZiihnen  zubissen  werde."  De  Wettc,  iv. 
572.  He  asserts  that  the  body  of  Christ  is  substantialiter  but  not  localiter  —  as 
extended  or  occupying  space  —  present.  De  Wette,  iv.  573.  Zwingle,  on  the 
contrary,  denied  that  the  body  of  Christ  is  present,  in  any  sense,  in  the  sacra- 
ment. Thus  he  writes  to  Luther  himself  (April,  L527:  Zicing.  Opera,  viii. 
39):  "Nunquam  eniin  aliud  obtinebis,  quain  quod  Christi  Corpus  quum  in  coena 
quum  in  mentibus  piorum  non  alitor  sit,  quam  sola  contemplatione."  Zwingle 
and  his  followers  were  more  and  more  disposed  to  attach  importance  to  a  spirit- 
ual presence  of  Christ  in  the  sacrament.  This  Calvin  emphasized  and  added 
the  positive  assertion  of  a  direct  influence  upon  the  believing  communicant,  1 
which  flows  from  Christ  through  the  medium  or  instrumentality  of  his  human 
nature.  His  flesh  and  blood,  though  locally  separated,  are  really  imparted  to 
the  soul  of  the  believer,  as  an  effect  of  his  faith,  by  "the  secret  power  of  the 
Holy  Spirit."  Institutes,  iv.  xvii.  9,  10,  2-'}.  An  able  historical  discussion  by 
Julius  Midler,  entitled,  Vergleichung der  Lekren  Lathers  und  Calvins  Uber  das 
h.  Abendmirfrf  is  in  .Midler's  Dogmatische  Abkandlungen,  pp.  404— 1G7. 


150  THE   ZWINGLIAN    REFORMATION. 

of  conduct  it  is  not  impossible  to  discover.  The  obnox- 
ious theory  was  first  proposed  by  Carlstadt,  an  enthu- 
siast and  fanatic  who  had  given  Luther  infinite  trouble  ; 
and  it  was  defended  by  him  through  a  weak  device  of 
exeeresis.  It  was  associated  in  Luther's  mind  with  the 
extreme  spiritualism,  or  the  subjective  tendency,  which 
undervalued  and  tended  to  sweep  away  the  objective; 
means  of  grace,  the  Word  as  well  as  the  sacraments,  and 
to  substitute  for  them  a  special  illumination  or  inspiration 
from  the  Spirit.1  The  Word  and  the  Sacraments  Luther 
had  made  the  criteria  of  the  Church.  On  upholding  them 
in  their  just  place,  everything  that  distinguished  his  re- 
form from  enthusiasm  or  rationalism  depended.  He  had 
never  thought  of  forsaking  the  dogmatic  system  of  Latin 
Christianity  in  its  earlier  and  purer  days,  and  he  looked 
with  alarm  on  what  struck  him  as  a  rationalistic  innova- 
tion. Besides,  over  and  above  all  these  considerations,  the 
real  objective  presence  of  Christ  in  his  human  nature, 
was  a  belief  that  had  taken  a  deep  hold  of  his  imagina- 
tion and  feelings.  He  had  been  tempted  to  give  to  the 
text  — "  this  is  my  body  " —  a  looser,  more  figurative 
meaning  ;  but  the  text,  he  declared,  was  too  strong  for 
him.  He  must  take  it  just  as  it  reads.  The  truth  is 
that  his  religious  feelings  were  intertwined  with  the  literal 
interpretation.  Being  immovably  and  on  such  grounds 
established  in  his  opinion,  he  would  have  no  fellowship 
with  such  as  rejected  it.     They  denied,  as  he  considered, 

1  Luther  was  in  the  habit  of  stigmatizing  the  Zwinglians  as  "  schwarmer." 
This  seems  at  first  inapposite,  even  as  a  term  of  opprobrium.  Bui  Luther  would 
hold  t'a-t  to  the  objective  Word  and  the  objectiv*  sacraments.  As  the  truth  was 
in  the  Word  when  it  entered  tin-  car  even  of  the  unbeliever;  as  it  was  the  Word 
of  God,  however  it  might  lie  received;  so  was  Christ  in  the  sacramental  ele- 
ments, whatever  the  beliefs  or  feelings  of  the  recipient  might  be.  The  sacrament 
was  complete,  independently  of  the  character  of  the  recipient,  net  less  than  of 

the  character  of  the  minister.  It  owed  it>  completeness  to  the  divine  institution: 
just  as  the  rays  of  the  him  are  the  same,  whether  they  fall  upon  the  eye  that 
can  see  or  upon  the  blind.  In  a  word,  Luther  felt  strongly  that  the  Zwinglians 
attributed  too  much  to  the  subjective  factor,  to  faith,  and  thus  sacrificed  the 
^rand  objective  characti  r  of  the  means  of  grace  — doing  by  the  sacraments  what 
the  enthusiasts  did  by  the  Scriptures. 


THE   EUCHARISTIC    CONTROVERSY.  151 

an  article  of  the  Christian  faith,  a  precious  fact  of  Chris- 
tian experience.  The  union  of  the  believer  with  Christ 
—  the  unio  mystica  —  is  a  theme  on  which  he  has  writ- 
ten more  impressively,  perhaps,  than  upon  any  other  topic 
of  Christian  doctrine.1  Philosophical  objections  counted 
for  nothing  Avith  him  against  the  intuitions  of  the  ethical 
or  religious  nature.  He  was  profoundly  sensible  that  the 
truths  of  religion  transcend  the  limits  of  the  understand- 
ing. Difficulties  raised  by  the  mere  understanding,  hi 
however  plausible  form  they  might  be  presented,  he  con- 
sidered to  be  really  superficial.  Yet,  in  defending  his 
own  view  he  sometimes  condescended  to  light  with  weap- 
ons of  philosophy  which  he  had  drawn  in  earlier  days 
from  the  tomes  of  Occam. 

Of  course  the  most  urgent  exertions  would  be  made  to 
heal  a  schism  that  threatened  to  breed  great  disasters  to 
the  Protestant  cause.  Not  only  was  it  a  scandal  of  which 
the  Roman  Catholic  party  would  only  be  too  happy  to 
make  an  abundant  use,  but  it  distracted  the  counsels  and 
tended  to  paralyze  the  physical  strength  of  the  Protestant 
interest.  The  theologian  who  was  most  industrious  in  the 
work  of  bringing  about  a  union,  was  Martin  Bucer,  who 
from  his  position  at  Strasburg  was  well  situated  with  refer- 
ence to  both  of  the  contending  parties,  and  who  was  un- 
commonly ingenious  at  framing  compromises,  or  at  devising 
formulas  sufficiently  ambiguous  to  cover  dissonant  opinions. 
Rude  and  violent  though  Luther  sometimes  was,  he  was 
always  utterly  honest  and  outspoken,  and  for  this  reason 
proved  on  some  occasions  unmanageable  ;  and  Zwingle, 
earnest  as  was  his  desire  for  peace,  was  too  sincere  and 
self-respecting  to  hide  his  opinion  under  equivocal  phrase- 
ology. At  least,  when  it  was  openly  attacked,  he  would 
as  openly  stand  for  its  defense.  Of  the  princes  who  were 
active  in  efforts  to  pacify  the  opposing  schools  and  bring 

1  Passages  from  Luther  on  this  subject  may  be  read  in  Dorner,  Entiricldungs- 
gsch.  d.  Lehre  v.  d.  Person  Christ.,  ii.  510  seq. 


152  THE  ZWINGLIAN   REFORMATION. 

them  upon  some  common  ground,  Philip,  the  Landgrave 
of  Hesse,  was  most  conspicuous.  The  most  memorable 
attempt  of  this  sort  was  the  Conference  at  Marburg  in 
1529,  where  the  Swiss  theologians  met  Luther  and  Me- 
lancthon.  The  former  accommodated  themselves  to  the 
views  of  the  Lutherans  on  the  subject  of  original  sin,  and 
on  some  other  points  respecting  which  their  orthodoxy  had 
been  questioned.  The  only  point  of  difference  was  the 
Eucharist  ;  but  here  the  difference  proved  irreconcilable. 
The  Landgrave  arranged  that  private  conferences  should 
first  be  held  between  CEcolampadius  and  Luther,  and  be- 
tween Melancthon  and  Zwingle  ;  Zwingie  and  Luther 
being  thus  kept  apart,  and  each  put  by  the  side  of  a 
theologian  of  mild  and  conciliatory  temper.  But  the 
experiment  was  fruitless.  No  more  could  an  agreement 
be  reached  when  all  were  assembled  with  the  Landgrave 
and  a  select  company  of  spectators.  The  theologians  sat 
by  a  table,  the  Saxons  on  one  side  and  the  Swiss  opposite 
them.  Luther  wrote  upon  the  table  with  chalk  his  text, 
—  "hoc  est  meum  corpus" — and  refused  to  budge  an 
iota  from  the  literal  sense.  But  his  opponents  would  not 
admit  the  actual  presence  of  the  body  of  Christ  in  the 
sacrament,  or  that  his  body  is  received  by  unbelievers. 
Finally,  when  it  was  evident  that  no  common  ground 
could  be  reached,  Zwingle,  with  tears  in  his  eyes,  offered 
the  hand  of  fraternal  fellowship  to  Luther.  But  this 
Luther  refused  to  take,  not  willing,  says  Ranke,  to  rec- 
ognize tin 'in  as  of  the  same  communion.  But  more  was 
meant  by  this  refusal ;  Luther  would  regard  the  Swiss  as 
friends,  but  such  was  the  influence  of  his  dogmatic  sys- 
tem over  his  feelings,  that  he  could  not  bring  himself  to 
regard  them  as  Christian  brethren.  Luther  and  Melanc- 
thon  at  this  time  appear  to  have  supposed  that  an  agree- 
ment in  every  article  of  belief  is  the  necessary  condition 
of  Christian  follow  ship.  Both  parties  engaged  to  be 
friendly  to   one  another,  and  to  abstain  from  irritating 


THE   EUCHARISTIC   CONTROVERSY.  153 

language.  They  signed  in  common  fourteen  articles  of 
faith  relating  to  the  great  points  of  Christian  doctrine, 
and  promised  to  exercise  toward  one  another  all  the 
charity  which  is  consistent  with  a  good  conscience.  There 
was  a  considerable  time  during  which  the  sentiments  and 
language  of  Luther  in  relation  to  the  Sacramentarians, 
were  greatly  softened.  In  particular  was  this  the  case 
while  he  was  at  Coburg,  during  the  sessions  of  the  Diet 
of  Augsburg.  The  imperial  cities  of  Southern  Germany, 
by  the  agency  of  the  indefatigable  Bucer,  although  they 
sympathized  with  the  Zwinglian  doctrine,  were  admitted 
to  the  league  of  Smalcald.  In  1536  the  most  distin- 
guished theologians  of  Upper  Germany  joined  Luther  and 
his  followers  in  subscribing  to  the  Wittenberg  Concord, 
which  expressed,  with  slight  reservations,  the  Lutheran 
view.  But  the  Swiss  adherents  of  Zwingle  refused  to 
sanction  this  creed.1  In  1543,  the  publication  of  Zwingle's 
writings  by  his  son-in-law,  Gualter,  with  an  apologetic 
essay  from  his  pen,  once  more  roused  the  ire  of  Luther, 
and  he  began  again  to  denounce  the  Zwinglians  and  their 
doctrine  in  the  former  vituperative  strain.2 

1  It  is  asserted  that  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ  are  truly  present,  and  offered 
in  the  sacrament,  and  are  received  even  by  the  "unworthy."  Bucer  distin- 
guished between  the  "unworthy"  and  "godless."  On  this  agreement  see  the 
article  "  Wittenberger  Concordie,"  in  Herzog's  Real-Enajcl.,  and  Gieseler,  in. 
iv.  1,  §  7. 

'2  The  story  (hat  Luther,  shortly  before  his  death,  acknowledged  to  Melanc- 
thon  that  he  had  gone  too  far  in  the  sacramental  controversy,  is  given,  for  ex- 
ample, by  Christoffel,  i.  331.  It  is  a  fiction:  see  Galle,  I''  rsuch  <  ira<  r  Character- 
istic Sfelancthons  als  Theologen,  etc.,  p.  ±'-Y->.  Luther  and  Melancthon  depended 
very  much  for  their  information  on  Swiss  affairs  upon  travellers  and  students,  and 
had  an  Imperfect  conception  of  the  real  character  of  Zwingle's  services  to 
reform.  Neither  of  the  disputants  at  Marburg  fully  grasped  the  opinion  <>f 
the  other.  The  Zwinglians  often  understood  Luther  to  hold  to  a  local  pres- 
ence, whereas  the  Lutheran  doctrine  rests  upon  the  idea  of  a  spiritualizing 
of  the  human  nature  of  Christ,  of  an  effect  wrought  upon  it  by  its  relation  to 
Divinity,  so  that  it  no  longer  tills  space  or  is  fettered  by  spatial  relations. 
The  state  of  Luther's  health,  and  the  particular  circumstances  under  which  he 
wrote,  affected  his  tone  respecting  Zwingle.  There  was  a  certain  bluntness  in 
Zwingle  which  was  offensive  to  Luther,  and  was  interpreted  liv  him  as  personal 
disrespect.     Zwingle's  letter  to  Luther  (April,   1527;    Zwing.   Opera,  viii,  39), 


154  THE   ZWLXGLIAX    REFORMATION. 

We  turn  now  to  the  catastrophe  of  the  Swiss  Reforma- 
tion. There  was  a  growing  hostility  between  the  five 
mountain  cantons  that  remained  Catholic  and  the  cities 
in  which  Protestantism  had  been  established.  The 
Catholic  cantons  entered  into  a  league  with  Ferdinand  of 
Austria.  Protestant  preachers  who  fell  into  the  hands 
of  the  Catholics  were  put  to  death.  The  new  doctrine 
was  suppressed  within  their  limits.  The  districts  that 
belonged  in  common  to  the  several  cantons  furnished  the 
occasion  for  bitter  controversy.  At  length  Zurich  took 
up  arms,  and  without  bloodshed  forced  the  five  cantons 
to  tear  up  the  compact  with  Austria,  to  concede  that  each 
government  should  be  free  to  decide  for  itself  upon  the 
religious  question,  and  to  pay  the  costs  of  the  projected 
war.  The  behavior  of  the  five  cantons,  however, .  was 
not  improved.  Their  threatening  attitude  led  Zurich  to 
form  alliances  with  the  city  of  Strasburg  and  the  Land- 
grave of  Hesse.  The  force  of  the  Protestants,  apart 
from  foreign  help,  was  greater  than  that  of  their  adver- 
saries. Zwingle  recommended  bold  measures.  He 
thought  that  the  constitution  of  the  Swiss  Confederacy 
should  be  changed,  so  that  the  preponderance  might  be 
given  to  the  cities  where  it  justly  belonged,  and  taken 
from  the  mountain  districts  which  had  so  shamefully  mis- 
used their  power.  The  chief  demands  that  were  really 
made,  were  that  the  Protestant  doctrine,  which  was  pro- 

however  it  may  have  been  provoked,  was  adapted  to  irritate  the  Saxon  reformer. 
Referring  to  it,  Luther  speaks  of  the  "Helvetica  feroeia  "  of  his  opponent  (to 
Spalatin,  May  31,  1527;  De  Wette,  iii.  182).  In  a  letter  to  Bullinger  (May  14. 
L538;  I  >»■  W.ttc,  v.  ;j),  he  speaks  kindly  of  Zwingle:  "Libera  enim  dicam: 
Zwinglium,  postquam  Afarpurgi  milii  visus  et  auditus  est,  viruna  optimum  esse 
judicavi,  sicut  el  GEcolampadium,"  etc.  He  speaks  of  the  grief  he  had  experi- 
enced at  Zwingle's  death.  Bui  when  his  displeasure  was  excited,  he  wrote  in  a 
different  spirit.  See,  for  example,  a  letter  to  Wenc.  I  Ink  (January  3, 1532,  De 
Wette,  iv.  331).  15ut  Zwingle,  in  the  Fidei  Ratio  —  the  creed  which  he  pre- 
sented at  Augsburg  —  had  described  Luther's  opinion  as  the  tenet  of  those  "  who 
look  back  to  the  flesh-pots  of  Egypt:  "Qui  adollas  iEg/ptiacas  respectant "  — 
an  aspersion  as  unjust  as  it  was  irritating  [Rat.  Fid.,  8).  Luther's  latest 
ebullition,  occasioned  by  the  intelligence  thai  the  Swiss  were  denouncing  him, 
is  in  a  letter  to  Jac.  Probst  (January  17,  15-4(>;  De  Wette,  v.  777). 


DEATH   OF   ZWINGLE.  155 

fessed  in  the  lower  cantons,  should  be  tolerated  in  the 
upper,  and  that  persecution  should  cease  there.  But  the 
question  was  whether  even  these  demands  would  be  en- 
forced. Zwingle  was  in  favor  of  overpowering  the  enemy 
by  a  direct  attack,  and  of  extorting  from  them  just  con- 
cessions. But  he  was  overruled,  and  half  measures  were 
resorted  to.  The  attempt  was  made  to  coerce  the  Catholic 
cantons  by  non-intercourse,  by  thus  cutting  off  their  sup- 
plies. The  effect  was  that  the  Catholics  were  enabled  to 
collect  their  strength,  while  the  Protestant  cities  were  di- 
vided by  jealousies  and  bv  disagreement  as  to  what  might 
be  the  best  policy  to  adopt.  Zurich  was  left  without 
help,  to  confront,  with  hasty  and  inadequate  preparation, 
the  combined  strength  of  the  Catholic  party.  The 
Zurich  force  was  defeated  at  Cappel,  on  the  11th  of 
October,  1531,  and  Zwingle,  who  had  gone  forth  as  a 
chaplain  Avith  his  people  to  battle,  fell.  He  had  antici- 
pated defeat  from  the  time  when  his  counsels  were  disre- 
garded, and  he  had  found  it  impossible  to  bring  the 
magistrates  of  Berne  to  a  resolution  to  act  with  decision. 
In  the  thick  of  the  fight,  he  raised  his  voice  to  encourage 
his  companions,  but  made  no  use  of  his  weapons.1  As  he 
received  his  mortal  wound,  he  exclaimed :  "  What  evil  is 
this  ?  they  can  kill  the  body,  but  not  the  soul !  "  2  As  he 
lay,  still  breathing,  on  the  field,  with  his  hands  folded 
and  his  eyes  directed  to  heaven,  one  or  more  brutal  sol- 
diers asked  him  to  confess  to  a  priest,  or  to  call  on  Mary 
and  the  saints.  He  shook  his  head  in  token  of  refusal. 
They  knew  not  to  whom  they  were  speaking,  but  only 
that  he  was  a  heretic,  and  with  a  single  sword-thrust  put 
an  end  to  his  life.3  Notwithstanding  this  defeat,  the 
party  of  the  reformed  might  have  retrieved  their  cause. 
But  they  lacked  union  and  energy.       Zurich  and  Berne 

1  Mo'rikofer,  ii.  417.  2  Myconius,  xii. 

3  The  death  of  Zwingle  is  described  with  touching  simplicity  by  his  successor 
at  Zurich,  Bullinger,  Refuvmationsgeschidite  (Zurich  ed.,  1838),  iii.  13G. 


156  THE   ZWIXGLUN   REFORMATION. 

concluded  a  humiliating  peace,  the  effect  of  which  was  to 
inflict  a  serious  check  upon  the  Protestant  interest  and  to 
enable  the  Catholics  to  repossess  themselves  of  portions 
of  the  ground  which  they  had  lost. 

The  menace  addressed  by  the  Catholic  majority  at  the 
Diet  of  Augsburg  to  the  Protestants,  led  to  the  forma- 
tion of  the  Protestant  Defensive  League  of  Smalcald,  to 
which  the  four  imperial  cities  of  South  Germany  that  held 
the  Zwinglian  opinions,  but  were  now  disconnected  from 
the  confederacy  of  their  Swiss  brethren,  were  admitted 
in  1531.  The  Imperial  Chamber  had  been  purged  by 
the  exclusion  of  all  who  were  supposed  to  sympathize  with 
the  new  opinions.  This  tribunal  was  to  be  made  the  in- 
strument of  a  legal  persecution.  The  Emperor  procured 
the  election  of  his  brother  as  Roman  King,  in  a  manner 
which  involved  a  violation  of  the  rights  of  the  Electors, 
and  was  adapted  to  excite  the  apprehensions  of  the  Prot- 
estants.1 The  Wittenberg  theologians  waived  their  op- 
position to  the  project  of  withstanding  the  Emperor. 
Luther  took  the  ground  that,  while  as  Christians,  they 
ought  not  to  resort  to  force,  yet  the  rights  and  duties  of 
the  princes  in  reference  to  the  Emperor  were  a  political 
question  for  jurists  to  determine,  and  that  Christians,  as 
members  of  the  state,  were  bound  to  take  up  arms  in 
defense  of  their  princes,  when  these  are  unlawfully  as- 
saulted. The  political  situation  for  ten  years  after  the 
Diet  of  Augsburg  was  such  as  not  only  to  disable  Charles 
from  the  forcible  execution  of  its  decree,  but  also  such  as 
to  favor  the  progress  of  the  Reformation.  The  League 
of  Smalcald.  strengthened  by  a  temporary  alliance  with 
the  Dukes  of  Bavaria  and  by  treaties  with  France  and 
Denmark,  was  too  formidable  to  be  attacked.     The  irrup- 

1  Ranke,  iii.  220  scq.  The  "  King  of  the  Romans  "  was  the  title  of  the  suc- 
cessor of  the  Emperor  during  the  lifetime  of  the  latter,  and  of  the  latter  prior 
to  his  coronation  at  Koine.     See  Ihyce,  Holy  Roman  Empire,  p.  404. 


PROTESTANT  AND  CATHOLIC  LEAGUES.       157 

tion  of  the  Turks  under  Soliman  was  another  insuperable 
obstacle  in  the  way  of  the  repressive  policy.  Hence,  in 
1532,  "the  peace  of  Nuremberg"  provided  that  religious 
affairs  should  be  left  unchanged,  until  they  could  be  ad- 
justed by  a  new  Diet,  or  by  a  new  Council.  Such  a  Coun- 
cil the  Protestants  had  demanded  at  Augsburg  and 
Charles  had  promised  to  procure.  Notwithstanding  the 
disturbance  produced  by  the  Anabaptist  communists  at 
Munster,  the  Reformation  advanced  with  rapid  strides. 
The  Protestant  Duke  of  Wiirtemburg  was  reestablished 
in  his  possessions  by  the  Landgrave  of  Hesse,  in  1534. 
Brandenburg  and  ducal  Saxony,  by  the  death  of  the 
Elector  and  of  the  Duke,  became  Protestant,  Catholic 
princes  were  beginning  to  grant  religious  liberty  to  their 
subjects.  The  war  with  France,  which  broke  out  in  1536, 
rendered  it  impossible  for  the  Emperor  to  hinder  this 
progress.  The  Smalcald  League  was  extended  by  the 
accession  of  more  princes  and  cities.  The  Protestants 
refused  to  comply  with  the  summons  to  a  Council,  in 
which,  by  the  terms  of  the  invitation,  their  condemnation 
was  a  foregone  conclusion.  Alarmed  at  the  growing 
strength  of  Protestantism,  the  leading  Catholic  estates 
united  in  a  Holy  League  at  Nuremberg,  in  1538,  which, 
like  the  League  of  Smalcald,  was  ostensibly  for  defense.1 
The  next  three  years  are  marked  by  efforts  to  secure 
peace,  of  which  the  Conference  and  Diet  of  Ratisbon,  in 

i  The  cause  of  the  Reformation  was  weakened  by  the  discord  of  Protestant 
princes,  especially  of  the  Elector  and  Duke  Maurice.  It  suffered  still  more  in 
consequence  of  the  "  dispensation  "  which  Luther  and  Melancthon  granted  the 
Laud-rave  of  Hesse,  which  allowed  him  to  contract  a  second  marriage  without 
being  divorced  from  his  wife,  who  had  become  repugnant  to  him  on  account  of 
her  bodily  disorders  and  personal  habits.  This  "double  marriage"  brought 
reproach  upon  the  reformers  and  carried  with  it  political  come  |iiences  that  wcrfe 
disastrous.  See  Ranke,  iv.  18'J  seq.  Unfounded  charges  againsl  Lather  in  con- 
nection with  this  unhappy  event,  by  Protestant  as  well  as  Catholic  writers  — 
for  example,  that  he  was  actuated  by  a  sellish  regard  lor  th  •  interests  of  the 
Protestant  party;  that  he  was  in  favor  of  polygamy,  etc.— are  exposed  by 
Hare.  Vindicakt  n  of  Luther,  etc.,  p.  225  Feq.  The  tram;:cii<  n  is  fully  narrated 
by  Seckendorf,  iii.  sect.  '21  $  Ixxix.  See  also,  Rommel,  Philip  d.  Gr  ssm  thiijc, 
i."  430,  ii.  409. 


158  THE   GERMAN    REFORMATION. 

1541,  is  the  most  remarkable.  On  this  occasion  the  Pope 
was  represented  by  his  Legate,  Contarini,  who  held  a 
view  of  justification  not  dissimilar  to  that  of  the  Prot- 
estants,  and  was  ready  to  meet  Melancthon  half-way  on 
the  path  of  concession.  In  these  negotiations  an  actual 
agreement  was  attained  in  the  statement  of  four  doc- 
trinal points,  which  embraced  the  subjects  of  the  nature 
of  man,  original  sin,  redemption,  and  justification  ;  but 
upon  the  Church,  sacraments,  and  kindred  topics,  it  was 
found  that  no  concord  was  attainable.  The  King  of 
France,  from  the  selfish  purpose  to  thwart  the  effort  for 
union,  with  others  on  the  Catholic  side  who  were  actu- 
ated by  different  motives,  complained  of  the  concessions 
that  had  been  made  by  the  Catholic  party  ;  and  Con- 
tarini was  checked  by  orders  from  the  Pope.  The 
Elector  of  Saxony  was  equally  dissatisfied  with  the  pro- 
ceedings of  Melancthon,  and  together  with  Luther,  who 
regarded  the  hope  of  a  compromise  as  wholly  futile,  and 
as  inspired  by  Satan,  was  gratified  when  the  abortive 
conference  was  brought  to  an  end.  The  necessitv  of 
getting  help  at  once  against  the  Turks  compelled  Charles 
once  more  to  sanction  the  peace  of  Nuremberg  with  ad- 
ditional provisions  to  the  advantage  of  the  Protestants. 
His  unsuccessful  expedition  against  Algiers,  in  1541,  and 
the  renewed  war  with  France,  together  with  the  Turkish 
war  in  which  his  brother  Ferdinand  was  involved,  obliged 
the  latter,  at  a  Diet  at  Spires  in  1512,  to  grant  a  con- 
tinuance of  the  religious  peace.  The  imperial  declaration 
at  Ratisbou  was  ratified  by  the  Diet  of  Spires,  held  in 
1514.  The  prospects  of  the  Protestant  cause  had  been 
bright.  For  a  time  it  seemed  probable  that  all  Germany 
would  adopt  the  new  faith.  But  the  League  of  Smalcald 
was  grievously  weakened  by  internal  dissension.  The 
cities  complained  of  arbitrary  proceedings  of  the  Elector 
of  Saxony  and  the  Landgrave  of  Ilosse;  for  example,  in 
the  expulsion  of  the  Duke  of  Brunswick  from  his  land,  a 


LAST   DAYS    OF   LUTHER.  159 

measure  that  brought  them  into  conflict  with  the  imperial 
court.  But  the  fatal  event  was  the  hostility  of  Maurice, 
Duke  of  Saxony,  to  the  Elector,  which  rested  on  various 
grounds,  and  which  had  once  before  brought  thorn  to  the 
verge  of  war ;  and  the  abandonment  of  the  League  by 
Maurice,  in  1542.  The  Elector  of  Brandenburg  had  not 
joined  the  League,  and  was  followed  in  this  course  by 
the  old  Elector  Palatine,  who  adopted  the  Reformation 
in  1545.  The  Emperor  forced  France  to  conclude  the 
peace  of  Crespy,  in  1544.  At  the  Diet  of  Worms  in 
March,  1545,  the  Protestants  refused  to  take  part  in  the 
Council  of  Trent.  The  hostility  of  the  Elector  to 
Maurice  prevented  the  formation  of  a  close  alliance  be- 
tween the  two  Saxonies  and  Hesse.  Maurice,  an  adroit 
and  ambitious  politician,  loving  power  more  than  he 
loved  his  faith,  at  length  made  his  bargain  with  Charles, 
and  engaged  to  unite  with  him  in  making  war  upon  the 
Elector,  whose  territories  Maurice  coveted,  and  upon  the 
Landgrave,  the  two  princes  whom  the  Emperor  professed 
to  attack,  not  on  religious  grounds,  but  as  offenders  against 
the  laws  and  peace  of  the  Empire.  While  the  Emperor 
was  dallying  with  the  Protestants  that  he  might  prepare 
to  strike  a  more  effective  blow,  Luther  died  at  Eisleben, 
the  place  of  his  birth,  on  the  18th  of  February,  1546. 
His  last  days  were  not  his  best.  His  health  was  under- 
mined, and  he  suffered  grievously  from  various  disorders, 
especially  from  severe,  continuous  headache.  He  was  op- 
pressed with  a  great  variety  of  little  employments  relat- 
ing to  public  and  private  affairs,  so  that  going  one  day 
from  his  writing-table  to  the  window  he  fancied  that  he 
saw  Satan  mocking  him  for  having  to  consume  his  time 
in  useless  business.1  Llis  intellectual  powers  were  not 
enfeebled.       His  religious  trust  continued  firm  as  a  rock. 

1  "Here  to-day  have  I  been  pestered  with  the  knaveries  and  lies  of  a  baker, 
brought  before  me  for  using  false  weights;  though  such  matters  concern  the 
magistrate  rather  than  the  divine.  Yet,  if  no  one  were  to  check  the  thefts  of 
these  bakers,  we  should  have  a  fine  state  of  things."  —  Tischreden. 


160  THE    GERMAN   REFORMATION. 

His  courage  and  his  assurance  of  the  ultimate  victory 
of  the  truth  never  faltered.  But  he  lost  the  cheerful 
spirits,  the  joyous  tone,  that  had  before  characterized 
him.  He  took  dark  views  of  the  wickedness  of  the 
times  and  of  society  about  him.  He  was  weary  of  the 
world,  weary  of  life,  and  longed  to  be  released  from  its 
burdens.  He  was  old,  he  said,  useless,  a  cumberer  of  the 
ground,  and  he  wanted  to  go.  His  disaffection  with 
Wittenberg,  on  account  of  what  lie  considered  the  laxness 
of  family  government  and  reprehensible  fashions  in  re- 
spect to  dress,  was  such  that  he  determined  to  quit  the 
place,  and  he  was  dissuaded  only  by  the  united  interces- 
sions of  the  Elector,  and  of  the  authorities  of  the  Univer- 
sity and  of  the  town.  He  fell  into  a  conflict  with  the 
jurists  on*  account  of  their  declaration  that  the  consent  of 
parents  is  not  absolutely  indispensable  to  the  validity  of 
a  marriage  engagement,  and  he  attacked  them  publicly 
from  the  pulpit.1  The  friendship  of  Luther  and  Melanc- 
thon  was  not  broken,  but  partially  chilled  in  consequence 
of  theological  differences.  There  were  two  points  on 
which  Melancthon  swerved  from  his  earlier  views.  From 
the  time  of  the  controversy  of  Luther  and  Erasmus, 
Melancthon  had  begun  to  modify  his  ideas  of  predestina- 
tion, and  to  incline  to  the  view  that  was  afterwards  called 
Synergism,  which  gives  to  the  will  an  active,  though  a 
subordinate,  receptive  agency  in  conversion.  On  this  sub- 
ject, however,  the  practical,  if  not  the  theoretical  views  of 
Luther  were  also  modified,  as  is  evident  from  the  letters 
which  he  wrote  in  reply  to  perplexed  persons  who  ap- 
plied to  him  for  counsel.  The  difference  on  this  subject 
between  him  and  Melancthon,  if  one  existed,  occasioned 
no  breach.  It  was  not  until  after  Luther's  death  that 
his  followers  made  this  a  ground  of  attack  on  Melanc- 

1  Gallo,  p.  130.  Luther  writes  to  Spalatin  that  in  his  whole  life  and  in  all 
his  labors  for  the  Gospel,  lie  had  never  had  more  anxiety  than  during  that  year 
(1544).    De  Wcttc,  v.  G2G. 


LAST    DAYS    OF   LUTHER.  161 

thon  and  the  subject  of  a  theological  contest.  But,  on 
the  Lord's  Supper,  the  matter  on  which  Luther  was  most 
sensitive,  Melancthou,  from  about  the  time  of  the  Diet 
of  Augsburg,  began  to  deviate  from  his  former  opinion.. 
The  spell  which  Luther  had  cast  over  him  in  his  youth 
was  broken  ;  and,  influenced  by  the  arguments  of  (Eco- 
lampadius  and  by  his  own  independent  study  of  the 
Fathers,  he  really  embraced,  in  his  own  mind,  the  Calvin- 
istic  doctrine,  which  was,  in  substance,  the  opinion  advo- 
cated by  (Ecolampadius  and  Bucer.  Melancthou  still 
rejected  the  Zwingiian  theory  which  made  Christ  in  the 
sacrament  merely  the  object  of  the  contemplative  act  of 
faith  ;  but  the  other  hypothesis  of  a  real  but  spiritual  re- 
ception of  Him,  in  connection  with  the  bread  and  wine, 
satisfied  him.  Melancthon's  reserve  and  anxiety  to  keep 
the  peace  could  not  wholly  conceal  this  change  of  opin- 
ion ;  and  persons  were  not  wanting,  of  whom  Nicholas 
Amsdorf  was  the  chief,  to  excite  as  far  as  they  could,  the 
jealousy  and  hostility  of  Luther.  The  result  was  that 
the  confidential  intimacy  of  the  two  men  was  interrupted. 
For  several  years  Melancthon  lived  in  distress  and  in 
daily  expectation  of  being  driven  from  his  place.1 
"  Often,"  he  says,  writing  in  Greek  as  he  frequently  did, 
when  he  wanted  to  express  something  which  he  was 
afraid  to  divulge  —  "Often  have  I  said  that  I  dreaded  the 
old  age  of  a  nature  so  passionate,  like  that  of  Her- 
cules, or  Philoctetes,  or  the  Roman  General,  Marius."2 
In  remarks  of  this  sort  he  referred,  as  he  explained  later, 
to  the  vehemence  common  to  men  of  a  heroic  make.3  Yet, 

1  Corpus  Ref.,  v.  474.  Gallc,  p.  142.  A  letter  of  Melancthon  to  Carlowitz, 
the  Councilor  of  Duke  Maurice  {Corpus  Ref .,  vi.  879),  written  just  after  the 
close  of  the  Smalcaldic  War,  in  which  he  speaks  of  the  fAoretKi'a  of  Luther, 
affords  proof  of  the  uncomfortable  relations  in  which  he  had  stood  with  the 
strictly  Lutheran  Court  of  the  Elector.  This  letter,  which  was  written,  says 
Etanke,  at  an  unguarded  moment,  gave,  under  the  circumstances,  just  offense 
to  those  who  cherished  the  memory  of  Luther.  See  the  remarks  of  Kanke,  v. 
53. 

2  Corpus  Ref.,  v.  310.     Galle,  p.  140.  3  Galle,  p.  149. 

11 


162  THE   GERMAN   REFORMATION. 

in  previous  years,  none  had  been  more  just  and  forbearing 
in  reference  to  the  undue  tendency  to  concession  and  com- 
promise on  the  part  of  Melancthon,  than  Luther.  For 
the  change  in  their  relations,  the  fear  and  consequent  re- 
serve and  shyness  of  the  one  were  not  less  responsible 
than  the  imperious  disposition  of  the  other.  It  would  be  a 
mistake  to  suppose  that  Luther  lost  his  confidence  and  love 
towards  his  younger  associate  ;  for.  expressions  of  Luther, 
in  his  very  last  days,  prove  the  contrary.  It  would  be  an 
error,  likewise,  to  suppose  that  Melancthon  ever  came  to 
regard  him  as  other  than  one  of  the  foremost  of  men,  a 
hero,  endowed  with  noble  and  admirable  qualities  of 
heart  as  well  as  mind.  But  the  original  contrariety  in 
the  temperament  of  the  two  men,  joined  to  the  infirm- 
ities of  character  in  Luther,  which  were  aggravated  by 
long  years  of  strenuous  combat  and  labor,  and  by  disease, 
had  the  effect  to  cloud  for  a  while  their  mutual  sympathy 
and  cordiality  of  intercourse.  But  the  great  soul  of  Lu- 
ther shines  out  in  the  last  letters  he  wrote  —  several  of 
them  affectionate  epistles  to  Melancthon  —  and  in  the 
last  sermons  he  preached  at  Eisleben  ;  where,  within  a  few 
rods  of  the  house  in  which  he  was  born,  full  of  faith  and 
of  peace,  he  breathed  his  last.  "  He  is  gone,"  said  Me- 
lancthon to  his  students,  "  the  chariot  of  Israel  and  the 
horsemen  thereof,  who  ruled  the  Church  in  these  last 
troubled  times/'  In  the  course  of  the  funeral  address 
which  Melancthon  pronounced  over  the  grave  beneath 
the  pulpit  where  the  voice  of  Luther  had  so  long  been 
heard,  lie  referred  to  the  complaint  made  against  Luther's 
excessive  vehemence,  and  quoted  the  frequent  remark  of 
Erasmus,  that  "  God  has  given  to  this  last  time,  on  account 
of  the  greatness  of  its  diseases,  a  sharp  physician."  With 
grief  and  tears,  he  said,  that  choked  his  utterance,  he  set 
forth  the  grand  labors  of  Luther,  the  kindness,  geniality, 
and  dignity  of  his  character,  his  freedom  from  personal 
ambition,  the   wisdom   and  sobriety   that   were   mingled 


TOWER   OF   LUTHER.  163 

with  his  irresistible  energy  as  a  reformer.  If  even  m  this 
address,  "and  still  more  in  subsequent  letters  of  Melane- 
§hon,  traces  of  a  partial  estrangement  may  be  detected 
in  his  tone,  the  effect  is  only  a  discriminating  instead  of  a 
blind  admiration  of  one  with  whom  he  was  connected  by 
an  indissoluble  bond  of  love.1 

Luther,  whatever  deduction  from  his  merit  may  be 
made  on  the  score  of  faults  and  infirmities,  was  one  of 
those  extraordinary  men  of  whom  it  may  be  said,  in  no 
spirit  of  hero-worship,  but  in  sober  truth,  that  their 
power,  as  manifested  in  history,  can  only  be  compared  to 
that  of  the  great  permanent  forces  of  nature.  "  He  is 
one  of  those  great  historical  figures  in  which  whole 
nations  recognize  their  own  type.'1  2  A  life-long  oppo- 
nent of  Protestantism,  one  of  the  first  Catholic  scholars 
of  the  age,  says  of  him  :  "It  was  Luther's  overpowering 
greatness  of  mind  and  marvelous  many-sidedness  which 
made  him  to  be  the  man  of  his  time  and  of  his  people ; 
and  it  is  correct  to  say  that  there  never  has  been  a  Ger- 
man who  has  so  intuitively  understood  his  people,  and  in 
turn  has  been  by  the  nation  so  perfectly  comprehended, 
I  might  say,  absorbed  by  it,  as  this  Augustinian  monk  at 
Wittenberg.  Heart  and  mind  of  the  Germans  were  in 
his  hand  like  the  lyre  in  the  hand  of  the  musician. 
Moreover,  he  has  given  to  his  people  more  than  any 
other  man  in  Christian  ages  has  ever  give  to  a  people  : 
language,  manual  for  popular  instruction,  Bible,  hymn3 
of  worship  ;  and  everything  which  his  opponents  in 
their  turn  had  to  offer  or  to  place  in  comparison  with 
these,  showed  itself  tame  and  powerless  and  colorless  by 
the  side  of  his  sweeping  eloquence.  They  stammered  ; 
he  spoke  with  the  tongue  of  an  orator  ;  it  is  he  only 
who  has  stamped  the  imperishable  seal  of  his  own  soul, 
alike  upon  the  German  language  and  upon  the  German 

i  Galle,  pp.  144,  145. 

2  Dorner,  Hist,  of  P rot.  Theology,  i.  81. 


164  THE   GERMAN   REFORMATION. 

mind ;  and  even  those  Germans  who  abhorred  him  as  the 
powerful  heretic  and  seducer  of  the  nation,  cannot  escape ; 
they  must  discourse  with  his  words,  they  must  thinly 
With  his  thoughts."  1 

The    Smalcaldic  war   began   in   1546.     Notwithstand- 
ing the  disadvantageous  situation  of  the  Protestants,  had 
the    military  management  been  good,  they  might  have 
achieved  success.     But  a  spirit  of  indecision  and  inac- 
tivity prevailed.     The  Elector,  John  Frederic,  drove  from 
his  territory  the  forces  of  Maurice,  but  was  surprised,  de- 
feated, and  captured  by  Charles  at  Miihlberg,  on  the  24th 
of  April,  1547;  and  soon  after  the  Landgrave  surrendered 
himself  and  submitted  to  the  Emperor.     The  victory  of 
Charles  appeared  to  be  almost  complete.     His  plan  was  to 
bring  the  Protestants  once  more  under  the  Catholic  hierar- 
chy, and  to  make  them  content  by  the  removal  of  exter- 
nal abuses.     His  estimate  of  the  true  character  and  moral 
strength  of  Protestantism  was  always  superficial.     Hence 
he  put  forth    a  provisional  formula  —  called,  after   the 
sanction  of  it  by  the  Diet,  the  Augsburg  Interim  —  at 
the    same    time  that   a   scheme  for  reformation  was  by 
his  authority  laid  before  the  German  bishops,  in  which 
changes  were  proposed  in  points  of  external  order.     The 
work  which  he  had  thus  commenced  he  hoped  that  the 
Council  of  Trent  would  complete.     But  .this  plan,  how- 
ever promising  it  seemed  to  the  Emperor,  had  to  contend 
not  only  with  the  opposition  of  earnest  Protestants,  but 
also  with  the  discordant  ideas  and  projects  of  the  Pope. 
Charles  had  counted  upon  suppressing  Protestantism  by 
the  joint  influence  of  his  own  power  and  of  the  Council. 
But  the  Council  had  begun  its  work,  not  with  measures 
looking  to  a  reformation,  but  with  the  condemnation  of 
the  Protestant  doctrines.     Moreover,  Pope  Paul  III.,  al- 
though he  hoped  that  benefit  would  result  to  the  Church 

1  Dollinger,    Vortriige,    etc.    (Munich,  1872).     See,  also,   his  earlier  work, 
Kirche  u.  Kirchen  (18G1),  p.  386. 


THE   INTERIM.  165 

from  the  Smalcaldic  war,  dreaded  a  too  absolute  success 
on  the  part  of  Charles,  which  would  render  him  danger- 
ous in  Italy.  Hence  he  wished  that  the  Elector  might 
hold  out  against  the  Emperor,  and  sent  a  message  to 
Francis  I.  to  aid  the  former.  He  withdrew  the  ill-dis- 
ciplined troops  with  which  he  had  furnished  Charles,  and 
excited  the  Emperor's  intense  displeasure  by  removing 
the  Council  to  Bologna.  The  Pope  and  Francis  were 
once  more  closely  allied,  and  at  work  on  the  Protestant 
side  for  the  purpose  of  diminishing  the  power  of  Charles. 
The  imperial  bishops  refused  to  leave  Trent,  and  the 
Council  was  rendered  powerless.  The  measures  under- 
taken by  Charles  were,  besides,  considered  by  the  Pope 
and  by  zealous  Catholics  to  be  an  encroachment  upon  his 
spiritual  authority,  a  usurpation  of  powers  not  belonging 
to  a  secular  ruler.  In  Southern  Germany  the  acceptance 
of  the  Interim  was  forced  upon  the  Protestant  states  and 
cities.  In  Northern  Germany  it  was  generally  resisted. 
The  city  of  Magdeburg  especially  signalized  itself  by  its 
persevering  refusal  to  submit  to  the  new  arrangements. 
Duke  Maurice  modified  the  Interim,  retaining  the  essen- 
tial features  of  the  Lutheran  doctrine,  but  allowing  Cath- 
olic rites  and  institutions,  and  thus  framed  the  Leipsic 
Interim.  This  proceeding,  which  was  accomplished  by 
the  aid  of  Melancthon  and  the  other  Wittenberg  theolo- 
gians, led  to  a  bitter  controversy  in  the  Lutheran  Church 
on  the  same  question  which  came  up  elsewhere  in  connec- 
tion with  Puritanism,  whether  these  obnoxious  rites  and 
usages  might  be  adopted  by  the  Church  as  things  morally 
indifferent —  adiaphora —  when  the  magistrate  enjoins  it. 
Melancthon  incurred  the  fierce  hostility  of  the  stricter 
Lutherans,  and  the  controversy  was  of  long  continu- 
ance.1 

1  That  Melancthon  went  too  far  in  his  concessions  in  the  period  of  the  Interim, 
is  allowed  by  judicious  friends  of  the  Reformation.  See  Ranke,  v.  48  seq.  It 
should  he  remembered,  however,  in  justice  to  him,  that  in  signing  the  Smalcald 


166  THE   GERMAN    REFORMATION. 

The  Council  hud  been  reassembled  at  Trent  by  Pope 
Julius  III.,  who  was  wholly  favorable  to  the  Emperor. 
Protestant  states  had  entered  into  negotiations  with  it, 
and  it  seemed  probable  that  Germany  must  bow  to  its 
authority,  when  the  whole  situation  was  turned  by  the 
bold  movement  of  Duke  Maurice  for  the  rescue  of  the 
cause  which  he  had  been  chiefly  instrumental  in  crushing. 
Notwithstanding  that  Germany  was  in  appearance  well- 
nigh  subjugated  to  the  Emperor,  there  were  powerful 
elements  of  opposition.  The  Turks  had  captured  Tripoli 
from  the  Knights  of  St.  John,  and  kindled  anew  the 
flames  of  war  in  Hungary.  Mary,  the  Catholic  Queen  of 
England,  had  died,  and  been  succeeded  by  Edward  VI., 
by  whom  Protestantism  was  reestablished  in  that  coun- 
try. Henry  II.  of  France  was  uniting  with  the  enemies 
of  the  Emperor  in  Italy,  and  in  September,  1551,  hos- 
tilities once  more  commenced  between  the  two  rival 
powers.  The  heroic  resistance  of  Magdeburg  had  stimu- 
lated the  enthusiasm  of  the  Protestants  of  North  Ger- 
many. The  project  of  Charles  V.  to  make  his  son, 
Philip  of  Spain,  his  successor  to  the  Empire,  had  even 
threatened  for  a  time  to  produce  an  estrangement  be- 
tween the  Emperor  and  Ferdinand.  The  German  princes 
were  offended  at  the  preference  given  to  Spanish  advisers 
and  at  personal  slights  which  they  had  suffered.  The  con- 
tinued presence  of  foreign  troops  in  violation  of  the  Em- 
peror's promise  at  his  election  was  offensive  to  the  nation. 
Maurice  had  become  an  object  of  general  hatred  among 
those  whom  he  had  betrayed.  Curses,  loud  as  well  as 
deep,  were  freely  uttered  against  him.  The  sufferings  of 
the  good  Elector,  whom  no  threats  and  no  bribes  could 
induce  to  compromise  his  religious  faith,  and  the  con- 
Articles,  he  had  appended  the  qualification  that  for  himself  he  was  willing,  for 
the  sake  of  unity,  to  admit  a  jure  humano  superiority  of  the  Pope  over  other 
bishops.  See  the  learned  article  "  Melancthon."  by  Landerer,  in  Ilerzog's 
Rval-Encycl.}  ix. 


TREATY  'OF   PASSAU.  167 

tinued  imprisonment  of  the  Landgrave,  against  the  spirit 
of  the  stipulations  given  on  the  occasion  of  his  surrender, 
for  the  fulfillment  of  which  Maurice  was  held  to  be  an- 
swerable, were  not  only  personally  displeasing  to  him, 
but  they  brought  upon  him  increasing  unpopularity.  His 
applications  to  the  Emperor  for  the  release  of  the  Land- 
grave, Maurice's  father-in-law,  had  proved  ineffectual. 
The  Spaniards  were  threatening  that  the  German  princes 
should  be  put  down,  and  intimations  that  Maurice  him- 
self miidit  have  to  be  dealt  with  as  the  Elector  had 
been,  were  occasionally  thrown  out.  The  siege  of  Mag- 
deburg which  Maurice,  who  had  undertaken  to  execute 
the  imperial  ban  against  that  city,  was  languidly  prose- 
cuting, served  as  a  cover  for  military  preparations.  Hav- 
ing secured  the  cooperation  of  several  Protestant  princes 
on  whom  he  could  rely  ;  having  convinced  with  difficulty 
the  families  of  the  captive  princes  that  he  might  be 
trusted  ;  having,  also,  negotiated  an  alliance  with  Henry 
II.,  who  was  to  make  a  diversion  against  Charles,  in  the 
Netherlands ;  having  come  to  an  understanding  with 
Magdeburg,  which  was  to  serve  as  a  refuge  in  case  of 
defeat  ;  having  made  these  and  all  other  needful  prepara- 
tions with  profound  secrec}r,  he  suddenly  took  the  field, 
and  marching  at  the  head  of  an  army  which  increased  at 
every  step  of  his  advance,  he  crossed  the  Alps,  and  forced 
the  Emperor,  who  was  suffering  from  an  attack  of  the 
gout,  to  fly  from  Innspruck.1  This  triumph  was  followed 
by  the  treaty  of  Passau.  Charles  left  his  brother  Ferdi- 
nand to  negotiate  with  the  princes.  The  demand  of 
Maurice  and  of  his  associates  was  that  the  Protestants 
should  have  an  assurance  of  toleration  and  of  an  equality 
of  rights  with  the  Catholics,  whether  the  efforts  to  secure 
religious  unanimity  in  the  nation  should  succeed  or  not. 
To  this   Ferdinand  gave  his  assent;    but   the  Emperor, 

1  Maurice  did  not  capture  Charles:  "  He  had  no  cage,"  he  said,  "  for  so  large 
a  hird."    Charles  fled  from  Innspruck,  May  19,  1552. 


168  THE   GERMAN   REFORMATION. 

impelled  alike  by  conscience  and  by  pride,  notwithstand- 
ing his  humiliating  defeat,  could  not  be  brought  to  concur 
in  this  stipulation.  The  Protestants  obtained  the  pledge 
of  amnesty,  of  peace,  and  equal  rights,  until  the  religious 
differences  should  be  settled  by  a  national  assembly  or  a 
general  council.  The  captive  princes  were  set  at  liberty. 
Charles  was  obliged  to  see  his  long-cherished  plan  for  the 
destruction  of  Protestantism  terminate  in  a  mortifying 
failure.  At  the  Diet  of  Augsburg  in  1555,  the  celebrated 
Religious  Peace  was  concluded.  Every  prince  was  to  be 
allowed  to  choose  between  the  Catholic  religion  and  the 
Augsburg  Confession,  and  the  religion  of  the  prince  was 
to  be  that  of  the  land  over  which  he  reigned.  The 
Catholics  wanted  to  except  ecclesiastical  princes  from  the 
first  article  ;  the  Protestants  objected  to  the  second.  Fi- 
nally the  ecclesiastical  reservation  was  adopted  into  the 
treaty,  according  to  which  every  prelate  on  becoming 
Protestant  should  resign  his  benefice  ;  and  by  an  accom- 
panying declaration  of  Ferdinand,  the  subjects  of  eccle- 
siastical princes  were  to  enjoy  religious  liberty.  The 
Imperial  Chamber,  which  had  been  a  principal  instru- 
ment of  oppression  in  the  hands  of  the  Catholics,  was 
reconstituted  in  such  a  way  that  the  rights  of  the  Prot- 
estants were  protected.  Charles  took  no  part  personally 
in  the  proceedings  which  led  to  the  religious  peace.  It 
involved  a  concession  to  the  adherents  of  the  Augsburg 
Confession  —  the  liberty  to  practice  their  religion  with- 
out molestation  or  loss  of  civil  privileges,  whether  a 
council  should  or  should  not  succeed  in  uniting  the  oppos- 
ing parties  —  a  concession  which  he  had  intended  never 
to  grant.  But  the  progress  of  thought  and  the  strength 
of  religious  convictions  were  too  mighty  to  be  overcome 
by  force.  Mediaeval  imperialism  was  obliged  to  give  way 
before  the  forces  arrayed  against  it.  The  abdication  of 
Charles,  who  felt  himself  physically  unequal  to  the  cares 
of  .his  office,  followed,  and  the  imperial  station  devolved 
on  his  brother  (1556). 


PEACE   OF    AUGSBURG.  169 

Thus  Protestantism  obtained  a  legal  recognition.  Dur- 
ing the  next  few  years,  the  Protestant  faith  rapidly  spread 
even  in  Bavaria  and  Austria.  Had  it  not  been  for  the 
Ecclesiastical  Reservation,  says  Gieseler,  all  Germany 
would  have  soon  become  Protestant. : 

1  Gieseler,  iv.  i.  1,§  11. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE   REFORMATION   IN  THE   SCANDINAVIAN  KINGDOMS, 
IN   THE   SLAVONIC    NATIONS,   AND  IN   HUNGARY. 

When  we  inquire  into  the  means  by  which  the  Ger- 
man Reformation  extended  itself  into  the  adjacent  coun- 
tries, the  agency  of  the  Germans  who  were  settled  in 
these  lands  constantly  appears.  One  is  reminded  of  the 
diffusion  of  the  ancient  Hebrews,  and  of  the  part  taken 
by  them  in  opening  a  way  for  Christianity  beyond  the 
bounds  of  Palestine.  Another  very  conspicuous  instru- 
ment in  the  spread  of  the  Lutheran  doctrine  was  Witten- 
berg, the  renowned  school  to  which  young  men  were 
attracted  out  of  all  the  neighboring  lands.  The  use  of 
Latin  as  a  vehicle  of  teaching  and  as  the  common  lan- 
guage of  educated  persons  of  whatever  nationality,  ren- 
dered this  practicable.  But  the  Scandinavians  were  them- 
selves a  branch  of  the  great  Teutonic  family,  near  kinsmen 
of  the  Germans,  and  connected  with  them,  besides,  by  the 
bonds  of  commercial  intercourse. 

In  1397,  the  three  Scandinavian  kingdoms,  Denmark, 
Norway,  and  Sweden,  were  united  by  the  Union  of  Cal- 
mar,  in  which  it  was  provided  that  each  nation  should 
preserve  its  laws  and  institutions,  and  share  in  the  elec- 
tion of  the  common  sovereign.  The  result,  however,  was 
a  long  struggle  for  Danish  supremacy  over  Sweden.  When 
the  Reformation  in  Germany  began,  Christian  II.  of  Den- 
mark was  engaged  in  a  contest  for  the  Swedish  throne. 
In  all  these  countries  the  prelates  were  possessed  of  great 


THE  REFORMATION  IN  DENMARK.  171 

wealth,  and  very  much  restricted  the  authority  of  the 
sovereign  as  well  as  the  power  of  the  secular  nobles.1 

Christian  II.  Avas  surrounded,  in  Denmark,  by  a  body 
of  advisers  who  sympathized  with  the  Lutheran  move- 
ment in  Saxony,  He  was  himself  disposed  to  depress  the 
power  of  the  ecclesiastical  and  lay  aristocracy,  and,  for 
this  end,  though  not  without  the  admixture  of  other  and 
better  motives,  set'  to  work  to  enlighten  and  elevate  the 
lower  classes.  The  encouragement  of  Protestantism  ac- 
corded with  his  general  policy.  In  1520,  he  sent  for  a 
Saxon  preacher  to  serve  as  chaplain  at  his  court  and  as 
a  religious  instructor  of  the  people,  and  subsequently  in- 
vited Luther  himself  into  his  kingdom.  At  the  same  time 
that  Christian  availed  himself  of  the  papal  ban  as  a  war- 
rant for  his  tyranny  and  cruelty  in  Sweden,  he  continued 
in  Denmark  to  promote  the  establishment  of  Protestant- 
ism. In  1521  he  put  forth  a  book  of  laws,  which  contained 
enactments  of  a  Protestant  tendency  ;  among  them  one 
to  encourage  the  marriage  of  all  prelates  and  priests,  and 
another  for  dispensing  with  all  appeals  to  Rome.2  After 
his  sanguinary  proceedings  against  Sweden,  rinding  that 
his  crown  was  in  danger,  he  retracted  his  reformatory 
measures,  at  the  instigation  of  a  papal  legate.  But  he 
was  deposed  by  the  prelates  and  nobles  of  Denmark,  and 
his  uncle,  Frederic  I.,  Duke  of  Schleswig  and  Holstein, 
was  made  king,  in  1523. 

Frederic  at  his  accession,  though  personally  inclined  to 
Protestantism,  was  obliged  to  pledge  himself  to  the  Dan- 
ish magnates  to  resist  its  introduction,  and  to  grant  it  no 
toleration.  The  exiled  Christian  identified  himself  with 
the  Protestant  cause,  though  not  with  constancy  ;  for  if 
the   charge    lacks  proof   that,  at  Augsburg,  in  1530,  in 

1  Miintcr,  Kirchengi'schichtc  r.  Danemarku.  Nonoegev,  Th.  iii.;  Gieseler,  IV. 
i.  c.  2,  §  17;  Geijer,  History  of  the  Swedes;  Heizog,  Real-EncycL,  articles 
"  Schweden,"  "  Danemark." 

2  Miinter,  p.  56  seq. 


172  REFORMATION  IN  DENMARK. 

order  to  get  the  help  of  the  Emperor,  he  formally  ab- 
jured the  evangelical  faith,  it  is  true  that  in  1531  he 
promised  to  uphold  the  Catholic  Church  in  Norway.  He 
rendered  a  good  service  by  causing  the  New  Testament 
to  be  translated  into  Danish,  which  was  done  by  two  of 
his  nobles.  The  immediate  .occasion  of  the  successful  in- 
troduction of  Lutheranism  into  Denmark  was  the  active 
propagation  of  it  in  the  Duchies  of  Schleswig  and  Hol- 
stein,  where,  in  1524,  Frederic  imposed  mutual  toleration 
on  both  parties.  In  Denmark  itself  the  study  of  the 
Bible  was  encouraged,  a  Biblical  theology  was  inculcated, 
and  ecclesiastical  abuses  censured  by  a  number  of  earnest 
preachers,  among  whom  was  Paul  Elia,  of  Helsingor,  Pro- 
vincial of  the  Carmelites,  who  worked  with  much  effect 
in  this  direction,  although  at  last,  like  Erasmus,  he  chose 
to  abide  in  the  old  Church,  and  even  turned  his  weapons, 
with  a  bitter  antipathy,  against  the  Reformers.  In  1526, 
the  King  declared  himself  in  favor  of  the  Reformation, 
the  doctrine  of  which  was  disseminated  rapidly  in  the 
cities.  The  most  zealous  advocate  of  the  new  doctrine 
was  John  Taussen,  sometimes  called  the  Danish  Luther, 
who  studied  at  Wittenberg,  and  after  1524,  in  defiance 
of  the  opposition  of  the  bishops,  preached  Lutheranism 
with  marked  effect.1  The  Danish  nobility  were  favorable 
to  the  King's  side,  from  jealousy  of  the  power  of  the 
prelates,  and  the  desire  to  possess  themselves  of  ecclesias- 
tical property.  At  the  Diet  of  Odense,  in  1527,  it  was 
ordained  that  marriage  should  be  allowed  to  the  clergy, 
that  Lutheranism  should  be  tolerated,  and  that  bishops 
should  thenceforward  abstain  from  getting  the  pallium 
from  Rome,  but,  when  chosen  by  the  chapter,  should 
look  to  the  King  alone  for  the  ratification  of  their  elec- 
tion. Converts  to  Lutheranism  were  made  in  great  num- 
bers. Wiborg  in  Jutland,  and  Malmo  in  Schonen,  were 
the  principal  centres,  whence  the  reformed  faith  was  dif- 

1  Pontoppidan,  Annates  Keel.  Dan.,  ii.  774. 


CHRISTIAN   III.    AND    BUGENHAGEN.  173 

fused  over  the  kingdom.  Books  and  tracts  in  exposition 
and  defense  of  it,  as  well  as  the  Bible  in  the  vernacular 
tongue,  were  everywhere  circulated.  The  Lutherans 
who,  in  1530,  presented  their  Confession  of  Faith  in 
forty-three  Articles,  acquired  the  preponderance  in  the 
land  ;  but  in  consequence  of  the  pledges  of  Frederic  at 
his  accession,  the  bishops  were  not  deprived  of  their 
power.  His  death,  in  1533,  led  to  a  combined  effort  on 
their  part  to  abrogate  the  recent  ecclesiastical  changes 
and  restore  the  exclusive  domination  of  the  old  religion. 
They  accordingly  refused  to  sanction  the  election  of 
Christian  III.,  Frederic's  eldest  son,  who  had  been  active 
in  establishing  Protestantism  in  the  Duchies  ;  until  their 
consent  was  compelled  by  the  attempt  of  the  Count  of 
Oldenburg,  a  Protestant,  to  restore  the  deposed  Christian 
II.,  whom  they  still  more  feared  and  hated.  By  Chris- 
tian III.,  whose  admiration  for  Luther  had  been  first 
kindled  at  the  Diet  of  Worms,  where  this  prince  was 
present,  the  authority  of  the  prelates  was  abolished,  at  a 
Diet  at  Copenhagen,  in  1536,  and  the  Reformation  uni- 
versally legalized.  The  bishops  were  forced  to  renounce 
their  dignities.  A  constitution  for  the  Danish  Church 
was  framed,  and  submitted  to  Luther  for  his  sanction. 
Bugenhagen,  a  prominent  friend  of  the  Saxon  Reformer, 
came  into  the  kingdom,  on  the  King's  invitation,  and,  in 
1537,  crowned  him  and  his  Queen,  and  perfected  the  new 
ecclesiastical  arrangements.  Bishops,  or  superintendents, 
were  appointed  for  the  dioceses,  and  formally  consecrated 
to  their  offices  by  Bugenhagen  himself,  "  ut  verus  episco- 
pus,"  as  Luther  expressed  it.  The  University  of  Copen- 
hagen was  reorganized,  and  other  schools  of  learning 
established  in  the  various  cities. 

This  final  triumph  of  Protestantism  in  Denmark  was 
connected  with  events  of  peculiar  interest  in  the  history 
of  the  Reformation.1     The  Lutheran  doctrine  had  quickly 

1  See  Ranke,  Deutsch.  G*ch.,  iii.  270  seq.,  406  seq. 


174  REFORMATION  IN  DENMARK. 

penetrated  into  every  place  where  the  German  tongue 
"was  spoken.  The  cities  of  Northern  Germany,  the  mem- 
bers of  the  old  Hanseatic  league,  gave  it  a  hospitable  re- 
ception. The  strong  burgher  class  in  these  towns  lent 
a  willing  ear  to  the  preachers  from  Wittenberg.  The 
Hansa,  at  the  period  of  its  greatest  prosperity,  in  the 
fourteenth  century,  comprised  in  its  confederacy  all  the 
maritime  towns  of  Germany,  together  with  Magdeburg, 
Brunswick,  and  other  intermediate  places  ;  and  exerted  a 
controlling  influence  in  the  Scandinavian  kingdoms.  It 
was  weakened  by  the  separation  of  the  Netherlands, 
after  1427.  The  great  value  of  the  trade  of  the  north- 
ern kingdoms,  of  the  products  of  their  mines  and  fish- 
eries, made  it  of  the  highest  importance  to  Lubeek,  the 
leading  city  of  the  Hansa,  to  keep  its  commercial  and 
political  supremacy.  Christian  II.,  the  brother-in-law  of 
Charles  V.,  was  withstood  in  his  attempt  to  subdue  the 
northern  nations  by  the  Lubeekers,  by  whom  Gustavus 
Vasa  was  assisted  in  gaining  the  throne  of  Sweden.  The 
cities  which,  like  Hamburg  and  Magdeburg,  had  a  magis- 
tracy that  was  favorable  to  the  Protestant  doctrine,  re- 
ceived the  new  system  without  any  serious  political  dis- 
turbance. But  in  some  other  towns,  as  Bremen  and 
Lubeek,  the  acceptance  of  Lutheranism  was  attended  by 
changes  in  the  government,  which  were  effected  by  the 
burghers,  and  were  democratic  in  their  character.  The 
new  Burgomaster,  at  Lubeek,  Wullenwebcr,  whom  the 
revolution  had  raised  to  power,  negotiated  a  treaty  of 
alliance  witli  the  English  King,  Henry  VIII.  The  great 
object  of  Liibeck  was  to  keep  the  track'  between  the  Bal- 
tic and  the  North  Sea  in  its  own  hands.  But  the  situ- 
ation in  Denmark,  after  the  death  of  Frederic  I.,  was 
such  that  Liibeck  reversed  its  attitude  and  espoused  the 
cause  of  the  exiled  King,  Christian  I.  The  Lubeekers 
found  that  they  could  not  longer  count  upon  the  coopera- 
tion  of    Denmark  in   their  commercial  policy,  and  that 


DEMOCRATIC  MOVEMENTS.  175 

Christian  III.,  of  Holstein,  could  not  be  enlisted  in  support 
of  their  hostile  undertakings  against  Holland.  Hence, 
they  put  forward  the  Count  of  Oldenburg  as  a  champion 
of  the  banished  sovereign.  Malmo,  Copenhagen,  and 
other  cities  of  Denmark,  as  well  as  Stralsund,  Rostock, 
and  other  old  cities  of  the  Hansa,  at  once  transformed 
their  former  municipal  system,  or  gave  to  it  a  democratic 
cast,  and  joined  hands  with  Lubeck  in  behalf  of  Christian 
II.,  whose  measures,  when  he  was  on  the  throne,  had 
looked  to  an  increase  of  the  power  of  the  burgher  class. 
The  confederate  cities  established  their  alliance  with 
England,  and  gained  to  their  side,  a  German  prince, 
Duke  Albert  of  Mecklenburg.  This  combination  had  to 
be  overcome  by  Christian  III.,  before  he  could  reign  over 
Denmark.  His  energetic  efforts  were  successful ;  and 
with  the  defeat  of  Lubeck,  the  democratic  or  revolution- 
ary movement,  the  radical  element,  which  threatened  to 
identify  itself  with  the  Reformation,  was  subdued.  Swe- 
den contributed  its  help  to  the  attainment  of  this  result. 
Wullenweber  himself  was  brought  to  the  scaffold.  The 
principle  of  Luther  and  his  associates,  that  the  cause  of 
religion  must  be  kept  separate  from  schemes  of  political 
or  social  revolution,  was  practically  vindicated.  In  Mini- 
ster, this  principle  had  to  be  maintained  against  a  social- 
ist movement  in  which  the  clergy  were  the  leaders.  In 
Lubeck:,  it  was  political  and  commercial  ambition  that 
sought  to  identify  with  its  own  aspirations  the  Protestant 
reform.  Christian  III.  was  a  Protestant ;  his  triumph, 
and  that  of  his  allies,  did  not  weaken  the  Protestant 
interest,  although  it  sub  verted  a  new  political  fabric 
which  had  been  set  up  in  connection  witli  it. 

The  reception  of  Protestantism  in  Norway  was  a,  con- 
sequence of  the  ecclesiastical  revolution  in  Denmark. 
Christian  III.  was  at  first  opposed  in  that  country;  but, 
in  1537,  the  Archbishop  of  Drontheim  fled,  with  t\ui 
treasures  of  his  Cathedral,  to  the  Netherlands,  and  Nor- 


176  REFORMATION   IN   SWEDEN. 

way  was  reduced  to  the  rank  of  a  province  of  Denmark. 
In  Iceland,  Protestantism  gained  a  lodgment  through 
similar  agencies,  although  the  Bishop  of  Skalholt,  who 
had  been  a  student  at  Wittenberg,  was  an  active  and  in- 
fluential teacher  of  the  new  doctrine. 

As  early  as  1519,  two  students  who  had  sat  at  the  feet 
of  Luther  in  Wittenberg,  Olaf  and  Lawrence  Petersen, 
began  to  preach  the  evangelical  doctrine  in  Sweden.  The 
Reformation  prevailed,  however,  through  the  political  rev- 
olution which  raised  Gustavus  Vasa  to  the  throne.  Chris- 
tian II.  of  Denmark  was  supported  in  his  endeavors  to 
conquer  Sweden,  by  papal  edicts,  and  by  the  cooperation 
of  the  archbishop,  Gustavus  Trolle.  The  Swedish  prel- 
ates were  favorable  to  the  Danish  interest.  Gustavus  Vasa, 
a  nobleman  who  was  related  to  the  family  of  Sture,  which 
had  furnished  several  administrators  or  regents  to  Sweden 
prior  to  its  conquest  by  Christian  II.,  undertook  to  lib- 
erate his  country  from  the  Danish  yoke,  and  succeeded  in 
his  patriotic  enterprise.  He  was  favorable  to  the  Lu- 
theran doctrine,  and  was  the  more  inclined  to  secure  for 
it  the  ascendency,  as  he  coveted  for  his  impoverished 
treasury  the  vast  wealth  which  had  been  accumulated  by 
the  ecclesiastics.  He  appointed  Lawrence  Andersen,  a 
convert  to  Lutheranism,  his  chancellor  ;  Olaf  Petersen  he 
made  a  preacher  in  Stockholm,  and  Lawrence  Petersen  a 
theological  professor  at  Upsala.  Plots  of  the  bishops  in 
behalf  of  Christian  II.  naturally  stimulated  the  predilec- 
tion of  Gustavus  for  the  Protestant  system.  A  public 
disputation  was  held  in  1524,  by  ,the  appointment  of  the 
king,  at  Upsala,  in  which  Olaf  Petersen  maintained  the 
Lutheran  opinions.  The  pecuniary  burdens  which  Gus- 
tavus laid  upon  the  clergy  excited  disaffection  among  them. 
Finally,  at  the  Diet  of  Westerns,  in  1527,  the  controversy 
was  brought  to  a  crisis.  Gustavus  threatened  to  abdicate 
his  throne  if  his  demands  were  not  complied  with.     The 


ESTABLISHMENT    OF   PROTESTANTISM.  177 

result  was  that  liberty  was  granted  "  for  tli<i  preachers  to 
proclaim  the  pure  Word  of  God,"  a  Protestant  definition 
being  coupled  with  this  phrase  ;  and  the  property  of  the 
Church,  with  the  authority  to  regulate  ecclesiastical  af- 
fairs, was  delivered  into  the  hand  of  the  King.  The. 
churches  which  embraced  the  Protestant  faith  preserved 
their  revenues.  The  ecclesiastical  property  fell  for  the 
most  part  to  the  possession  of  the  nobles.  The  common 
people,  not  instructed  in  the  new  doctrine,  were  generally 
attached  to  the  old  religious  system.  Gustavus  proposed 
to  introduce  changes  gradually,  and  to  provide  for  the 
instruction  of  the  peasantry.  He  had  to  put  down  a  dan- 
gerous insurrection  which  was  excited  in  part  by  priests 
who  were  hostile  to  the  religious  innovations.  By  de- 
grees the  Swedish  nation  acquired  a  firm  attachment  to 
the  Protestant  doctrine  and  worship.  Gustavus  was  suc- 
ceeded by  Eric  XIV.,  whose  partiality  to  Calvinism  made 
no  impression  on  his  subjects.  Then  followed  John  III. 
(1568-1592),  who  married  a  Catholic  princess  of  Poland, 
and  who  made  a  prolonged,  and  what  at  times  seemed 
likely  to  prove  a  successful  effort,  with  the  aid  of  astute 
Jesuits,  to  introduce  a  moderate  type  of  Catholicism,  and 
to  reconcile  the  nation  to  its  adoption.  Popular  feeling 
was  against  him  ;  and  after  his  death  the  liturgy  which 
he  had  established  and  obstinately  maintained,  was  abol- 
ished by  a  Council  at  Upsala  in  1593,  and  the  Augsburg 
Confession  accepted  as  the  creed  of  the  National  Church. 
Sigismund  III.  of  Poland,  on  account  of  his  Catholicism, 
was  prevented  from  reigning  ;  and  the  crown  of  Sweden 
was  given  to  Gustavus  Vasa's  youngest  son,  Charles  IX., 
who  became  king  in  1604. 

The  destruction  of  Huss  by  the  Council  of  Constance 
in  1415,  followed  in  the  next  year  by  the  execution  of 
Jerome  of  Prague,  sent  a  thrill  of  indignation  through  the 

12 


178  REFORMATION  IN   BOHEMIA. 

greater  portion  of  the  Bohemian  people.1  The  Bohe- 
mians were  converted  from  heathenism  by  two  Greek 
monks,  Methodius  and  Cyril ;  but  the  power  of  the  Ger- 
mans, coupled  with  the  influence  of  the  Roman  see,  se- 
cured their  adhesion  to  the  Latin  Church.  In  the  Middle 
Ages,  however,  a  struggle  took  place  between  the  ver- 
nacular and  the  Latin  ritual.  An  application  for  leave 
to  use  the  former  was  denied  in  a  peremptory  manner  by 
Gregory  VII.  Underlying  the  movement  of  which  Huss 
was  the  principal  author,  was  a  national  and  a  religious 
feeling.  The  favorers  of  the  Hussite  reform  were  of  the 
Slavic  population  ;  its  opponents  were  the  Germans.  The 
contest  of  the  two  parties  in  the  University  of  Prague  led  to 
an  academical  revolution,  a  change  in  the  constitution  of 
the  University,  which  gave  the  preponderance  of  power 
in  the  conduct  of  its  affairs  to  the  natives.  Hence,  the 
German  students  left  in  a  body  ;  and  out  of  this  great 
exodus  arose  the  University  of  Leipsic.  The  effect  of 
this  academical  quarrel  was  to  establish  the  ascendency 
of  Huss  and  his  followers.  While  the  Council  of  Con- 
stance was  in  session,  Jacobellus,  priest  of  the  Church  of 
St.  Michael  at  Prague,  began  to  administer  the  cup  to 
the  laity  ;  and  the  practice  obtained  the  sanction  of  Huss 
himself.  The  cup  had  been  originally  withdrawn  from 
laymen,  not  with  the  design  to  confer  a  new  distinction 
upon  the  priestly  order,  but  simply  from  reverence  for 
the  sacramental  wine,  which  was  often  spilled  in  the 
distribution  of  it  through  an  assembly.2  The  custom, 
once  established,  became  a  fixed  rule  in  the  Church,  and 
contributed  to  enhance  still  further  the  dignity  of  the 
sacerdotal  class.  Thomas  Aquinas  aided  in  confirming 
the  innovation  by  inculcating  the  doctrine  of  concomitance, 
the  doctrine  that  the  whole  Christ  is  in  each  of  the  ele- 

1  For  works  relating  to  Bohemian  ecclesiastical  history,  see  supra,  p.  61;  also, 
Lenfant,  Hist,  de  la  Guerre  d.  Hussites  et  du  Concile  de  Basle ;  Pesheck,  Ge- 
tchichte  d.  Gef/enre [format,  in  Bohmen  (1850). 

2  Gieseler,  Dogmengeschichte,  p.  542. 


THE   UTRAQUISTS.  179 

ments,  and  is  received,  therefore,  by  him  who  partakes  of 
the  bread  alone.  The  Utraquists  of  Bohemia  claimed 
the  cup.  They  went  beyond  the  position  of  Huss,  and  as- 
serted that  the  reception  of  both  elements  is  essential  to 
the  validity  of  the  sacrament.  Henceforward  the  demand 
for  the  chalice  became  the  most  distinguishing  badge  of 
the  Hussites,  the  subject  of  a  long  and  terrible  contest. 
The  Council  at  Constance  pronounced  the  Utraquist  op- 
ponents of  the  Church  doctrine  heretics. 

Fifty-four  Bohemian  and  Moravian  nobles  sent  from 
Prague  a  letter  to  the  Council  in  which  the}''  repelled  the 
accusations  of  heresy  which  had  been  made  against  their 
countrymen,  and  denounced  in  the  strongest  language  the 
cruel  treatment  of  Huss.  This  was  before  the  burning 
of  Jerome,  an  event  that  raised  the  storm  of  indignation 
in  Bohemia  to  a  greater  height.  The  Prague  University 
declared  for  the  Utraquists,  and  their  doctrine  speedily 
gained  the  assent  of  the  major  part  of  the  nation. 

The  Council,  and  Martin  V.,  resolved  upon  forcible 
measures  for  the  repression  of  the  Bohemian  errorists. 
Bohemia  was  a  constituent  part  of  the  German  Empire, 
and  the  execution  of  these  measures  fell  to  the  lot  of  Sic:- 
ismund,  its  head,  who  was  an  object  of  special  hatred  in 
Bohemia  on  account  of  his  agency  in  the  death  of  Huss. 
There  soon  arose  in  Bohemia  a  powerful  party  which 
went  far  beyond  the  Utraquists  in  their  doctrinal  innova- 
tions, and  in  hostility  to  the  Romish  Church.  The  Ta- 
borites,  as  they  were  styled,  gathered  in  vast  multitudes 
to  hear  preaching,  and  to  cement  their  union  with  one 
another.1  Their  creed,  which  took  on  new  phases  from 
time  to  time,  embraced  the  leading  points  of  what,  a 
century  later,  was  included  in  Protestantism  ;  although 
their  tenets  were  not  deduced  from  simple  and  funda- 
mental principles,  nor  bound  together  in  a  logically  cohe-' 
rent  system.     Unlike  the  ordinary  Utraquists,  they  re- 

1  Czerwenka,  i.  130. 


180  REFORMATION  IN   BOHEMIA. 

V 

jected  tran substantiation.  They,  also,  appealed  to  the 
Bible,  as  alone  authoritative,  and  refused  to  submit  to  the 
decisions  of  the  popes,  to  the  councils,  or  to  the  fathers. 
For  a  while,  chiliastic  and  apocalyptic  theories  prevailed 
among  them.  Discordant  political  tendencies  separated 
the  Utraquists  from  the  Taborites  —  the  latter  cherish- 
ing democratic  ideas  respecting  government  and  society. 
The  opposition  which  they  experienced  converted  their 
enthusiasm  into  fanaticism ;  and,  moved  by  a  furious 
iconoclastic  spirit,  they  assaulted  churches  and  convents, 
and  destroyed  the  treasures  which  had  been  gathered  by 
the  priesthood,  and  the  "  implements  of  idolatry."  In 
Ziska,  the  most  noted  of  their  leaders,  they  had  a  general 
of  fierce  and  stubborn  bravery  ;  and  under  his  guidance 
the  force  of  the  Hussites  became  well-nigh  irresistible. 

In  1421,  the  moderate  Utraquists,  or  Calixtines,  em- 
bodied their  belief  in  four  articles,  the  Articles  of  Prague, 
which  became  a  memorable  document  in  the  history  of 
the  Hussite  controversies.1  They  required  that  the  Word 
of  God  should  be  preached  freely  and  without  hindrance, 
by  Christian  priests,  throughout  the  kingdom  of  Bohe- 
mia ;  that  the  sacrament  should  be  administered,  in  both 
forms,  to  all  Christians,  not  excluded  by  mortal  sin  from 
the  reception  of  it ;  that  priests  and  monks  should  be  di- 
vested of  their  control  over  worldly  goods  ;  that  mortal 
sins,  especially  all  public  transgressions  of  God's  law, 
whetheT  by  priests  or  laymen,  should  be  subject  to  a  reg- 
ular and  strict  discipline;  and  that  an  end  should  be  put 
to  all  slanderous  accusations  against  the  Bohemian  people. 

On  the  relations  of  the  Utraquists  to  the  Taborites, 
the  moderate  to  the  radical  Hussites,  the  history  of  Bo- 
hemia for  a  century  intimately  depends.  Tin1  two  parties 
might  unite  in  a  crisis  involving  danger  to  both  ;  but 
they  were  often  at  war  with  one  another  ;  and  their  com- 
mon enemy  knew  how  to  turn  to  the  best  account  their 

1  Czerwenka,  i.  146;  Giescler,  ill.  v.  5,  §  151,  n.  19. 


THE  COUNCIL  OF  BASEL.  181 

mutual  differences.  The  most  conspicuous  feature  that 
belonged  to  them,  in  common,  was  the  demand  that  the 
cup  should  be  administered  to  the  laity. 

Three  crusades,  undertaken  by  the  authority,  and  at 
the  command  of  the  Church,  filled  Bohemia  with  the 
horrors  'of  war  ;  but  they  wholly  failed  to  subdue  the 
heretics  who  were  united  to  resist  them.  Vast  armies 
were  beaten  and  driven  out  of  the  country.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  Bohemians  repaid  the  attacks  made  upon  them, 
by  devastating  incursions  into  the  neighboring  German 
territory,  ruled  by  their  enemies. 

Convinced,  at  last,  of  the  futility  of  the  effort  to  con- 
quer the  Hussites,  their  opponents  consented  to  treat  with 
them.  By  the  advice  of  Cardinal  Julian  Cesarini,  who 
had  accompanied  the  last  crusading  army  against  them, 
and  shared  in  its  disastrous  overthrow,  the  (Ecumenical 
Council  of  Basel  decided  to  enter  into  negotiations  with 
them.  Having  first  carefully  obtained  abundant  guaran- 
ties for  their  personal  safety,  and  solemn  pledges  that 
they  should  have  a  free  and  full  hearing,  the  Utraquist 
delegates  —  representatives  of  both  the  leading  parties, 
the  Calixtines  and  Taborites  —  presented  themselves  at 
Basel.  At  their  head  was  Rokycana,  who  belonged  to 
the  moderate  party,  but  was  held  in  universal  esteem  for 
his  talents,  learning,  and  moral  excellence.  The  Hussite 
theologians  used  their  freedom  to  the  full  extent.  They 
harangued  the  Council  for  days  in  defense  of  the  pro- 
scribed doctrines,  in  vindication  of  the  memory  of  Huss, 
and  on  the  ecclesiastical  abuses  to  which  they  had  endeav- 
ored to  apply  a  remedy.  The  difference  between  the  two 
Bohemian  parties  was  brought  out  in  the  speeches  of 
their  respective  representatives,  and  was  skillfully  used  1>\ 
Cesarini  and  the  Council,  in  order  to  widen  the  separa- 
tion between  them.  After  long  negotiations,  and  the 
sending  of  an  embassy  from  the  Council  to  Bohemia,  the 
Hussites  obtained  certain  concessions  which  were  set  forth 


182  REFORMATION   IN   BOHEMIA. 

in  a  document  termed  the  Compactata.  The  communion 
might  be  given  in  both  kinds  to  all  adults,  who  should 
desire  it ;  but  it  must,  at  the  same  time,  be  taught  that 
the  whole  Christ  is  received  under  each  of  the  elements. 
The  infliction  of  penalties  on  persons  guilty  of  mortal  sin, 
i>n  which  the  Utraquists  insisted,  must  be  left  with  priests 
in  the  case  of  clerical  persons,  and  with  magistrates  in 
the  case  of  laymen.  The  Article  in  regard  to  the  free 
preaching  of  the  Word  was  qualified  by  confining  the  lib- 
erty to  preach,  to  persons  regularly  called,  and  authorized 
by  bishops.  As  to  the  control  of  property,  this  was  to  be 
allowed  to  secular  priests  only,  and  by  them  to  be  exer- 
cised according  to  the  prescribed  rules.  The  Compactata 
was  the  charter,  in  defense  of  which  the  Utraquists 
waged  many  a  hard  contest  ;  since  it  was  a  constant 
effort  of  the  popes  to  annul  the  concessions  which  it  con- 
tained, and  to  reduce  even  the  most  moderate  of  the 
Hussite  sects  to  an  exact  conformity  to  the  Roman  ritual, 
and  to  the  mandates  of  the  Roman  See.  This  agreement 
operated  also  to  divide  the  Calixtines  and  Taborites 
into  mutually  hostile  camps.  An  armed  conflict  ensued, 
in  which  the  Taborites  were  thoroughly  vanquished. 
Thenceforward  the  power  remained  in  the  hands  of  the 
Utraquists  who  were  desirous  of  approaching  as  nearly  to 
the  doctrines  and  rites  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  other 
countries  as  their  convictions  would  allow.  It  was  far 
from  being  true  that  peace  resulted  from  the  downfall  of 
the  Taborites,  and  the  conciliatory  proceedings  of  the  Ca- 
lixtines. The  history  of  Bohemia,  through  the  fifteenth 
century,  is  a  long  record  of  bitter  and  bloody  conflicts, 
having  for  their  end  the  restoration  of  uniformity  in  re- 
ligion. About  tin;  middle  of  the  century,  a  new  party, 
the  Brethren  in  Unity,  who  inherited  many  of  the  doc- 
trinal ideas  of  the  Taborites,  but  with  a  more  conserva- 
tive tenet  relative  to  the  sacrament,  and  a  more  gentle 
and  peaceful  temper,  separated  entirely  from  the  Church. 


THE   COMPACT ATA.  183 

They,  in  their  turn,  were  the  objects  of  persecution  at  the 
hands  of  the  more  orthodox  Utraquists.  Ultimately  the 
Brethren  were  joined  by  some  nobles,  and  acquired  a 
greater  degree  of  security.  They  were  connected  with 
certain  Waldensian  Christians,  and,  to  some  extent,  in- 
fluenced by  them. 

Thus  Bohemia  for  several  generations  had  really  been 
engaged  in  a  struggle  to  build  up  a  national  church  in  op- 
position to  the  dominating  and  unifying  spirit  of  Rome. 
When  Luther's  doctrine  became  known,  it  was  favorably 
received  by  the  Brethren,  and  they  desired  to  connect 
themselves  with  the  Saxon  reform.  At  first  Luther  was 
not  satisfied  with  their  opinions,  especially  on  the  sacra- 
ment ;  but,  after  conferences  with  them,  he  concluded  that 
their  faults  were  chiefly  in  expression  and  were  owing  to 
a  want  of  theological  culture.  After  the  example  of  the 
Lutherans  at  Augsburg,  the  Evangelical  Brethren,  in 
1535,  presented  to  King  Ferdinand  their  Confession. 
The  Calixtines  were  divided  on  the  question  of  pushing 
forward  the  Hussite  reform  in  the  direction  indicated  by 
Luther.  A  majority  of  the  estates  was  at  first  obtained 
in  favor  of  declarations  virtually  Lutheran.  But  the 
more  conservative  Utraquists,  who  planted  themselves  on 
the  Compactata,  soon  rallied  and  gained  the  upper  hand. 
However,  the  Lutheran  doctrine  continued  to  spread  and 
to  multiply  its  adherents  among  the  Calixtines  as  well  as 
the  Brethren.  The  two  parties,  on  embracing  Protestant- 
ism, differed  from  one  another  chiefly  on  points  of  dis- 
cipline. When  the  Smalcaldic  war  broke  out,  the  Utra- 
quists refused  to  furnish  troops  to  Ferdinand,  in  aid  of 
the  attempt  of  Charles  V.  to  crush  the  Protestants,  but 
joined  the  Elector  of  Saxony.  The  Bohemians  shared  in 
full  measure  the  disasters  which  fell  upon  the  Protestant 
party  after  their  defeat  at  Muhlbach.  Ferdinand  inflicted 
upon  them  severe  penalties.  Toleration  was  now  denied 
to  all  except  the  anti-Lutheran  Hussites ;  and  this  drove 


184  REFORMATION   IN  POLAND. 

many  of  the  Brethren  into  Poland  and  Prussia.  From 
the  year  1552,  the  Jesuits  who  then  came  into  the  country, 
endeavored  to  persecute  all  whose  dissent  from  the  Romish 
Church  went  beyond  the  standard  of  the  Compactata. 
In  1575,  the  Evangelical  Calixtines  and  Brethren  united 
in  presenting  a  confession  of  faith  to  Maximilian  II.  As 
the  power  of  the  Jesuits  increased,  there  was  no  safety 
for  the  adherents  of  the  Lutheran  or  the  Swiss  reform. 
In  1609,  to  such  as  received  the  confession  of  1575  there 
was  granted  a  letter  patent  —  or  "  letter  of  majesty  " — 
which  placed  them  on  a  footing  of  legal  equality  with  the 
Catholics. 

When  the  German  Reformation  began,  Poland  was 
rising  to  that  position  which  rendered  it,  a  generation 
later,  the  most  powerful  kingdom  in  Eastern  Europe. 
The  Slavonic  population  of  Poland  had  never  manifested 
any  peculiar  devotion  to  the  Roman  see.  Conflicts  be- 
tween nobles  and  bishops,  in  which  carnal  weapons  on 
one  side  were  often  opposed  to  the  excommunication  and 
the  interdict  on  the  other,  and  contests  between  princes 
and  the  popes  on  questions  of  prerogative,  had  been  abun- 
dant in  Polish  history  for  several  centuries.1  At  the 
Council  of  Constance,  Poles  were  active  in  the  party  of 
reform.  Well-founded  disaffection  at  the  immoral  char- 
acter of  the  clergy  had  widely  prevailed.  Hence  the 
anti-sacerdotal  sects,  as  the  Waldenses  and  the  Beghards, 
won  many  followers,  and  were  not  exterminated  by  the 
Inquisition,  by  which,  about  the  middle  of  the  fourteenth 
century,  their  open  manifestation  was  suppressed.  Far 
more  influential  were  the  Hussites,  who  did  much  to  pre- 
pare the  ground  for  Protestantism.  Bohemian  Brethren, 
driven  from  their  own  land,  naturally  took  refuge  in  Po- 
land. Those  circumstances,  and  other  agencies,  such  as 
the  residence  of  Polish  students  at  Wittenberg  and  the 

1  Herzog,  Real-Encyel,  art.  "  Polen." 


REFORMATION   IN   PRUSSIA.  185 

employment  of  Lutheran  teachers  and  preachers  in  the 
families  of  nobles,  opened  the  door  for  the  ingress  of  the 
Protestant  doctrine.  It  early  gained  disciples,  especially 
in  the  German  cities  of  Polish  Prussia.  In  Dantzig,  the 
principal  city  of  this  province,  it  made  such  progress  that 
in  1524  five  churches  were  given  up  to  its  adherents.1  But 
here  a  turbulent  party  arose  who,  not  satisfied  with  tol 
eration,  insisted  upon  driving  out  the  Catholic  worship, 
and  succeeded  by  violent  measures  in  displacing  the  exist- 
ing magistrates,  and  in  supplying  their  places  with  officers 
from  their  own  number.  The  interference  of  the  King, 
Sigismund  I.,  was  invoked,  who  restored  the  old  order  of 
things.  The  progress  of  the  Lutheran  cause,  however, 
was  not  stopped,  and  .Dantzig  in  the  next  reign  became 
predominantly  Protestant.  The  council  and  the  burghers 
of  Elbing  accepted  the  Reformation  in  1523.  Thorn  also 
became  Protestant.  The  advance  of  the  Reformation  in 
the  neighboring  communities  made  it  impossible  to  exclude 
it  from  Poland,  where  numerous  burghers  and  powerful 
nobles  regarded  it  with  favor.  By  the  treaty  of  Thorn 
in  14G6,  the  old  Teutonic  order  of  crusading  knights, 
which  had  long  governed  Prussia,  surrendered  West  Prus- 
sia and  Ermeland  to  Poland,  and  retained  East  Prussia  as 
a  fief  of  the  Polish  crown.  At  the  request  of  Albert  of 
Brandenburg,  the  Grand  Master,  two  preachers  were  sent 
by  Luther  to  Konigsberg,  in  1523.  The  Reformation 
swiftly  spread  ;  and  when  Albert,  after  having  been  de- 
feated by  Poland,  secularized  his  duchy,  in  1525,  the 
prevalence  of  the  Protestant  doctrine  was  secured.  In 
1524,  he  founded  the  University  of  Konigsberg  for  the 
education  of  preachers  and  the4  extension  of  the  new  faith 
In  Livonia,  which,  after  1521,  was  independent  of  the 
Teutonic  Order,  the  Reformation  likewise  found  a  willing 

1  Krasinski,  Religious  History  of  the  Slavonic  Nations,  p.  12G;  History  of 
the  Reformation  in  Poland,  i.  112  seq. ;  Die  Schicksale  d.  Polnischen  DissiJiu- 
ten  (Hamburg,  1768),  i.  423. 


186  REFORMATION   IN    POLAND. 

acceptance.  As  early  as  1524,  Luther  addressed  a 
printed  letter  to  the  professors  of  the  evangelical  doctrine 
in  Riga,  Revel,  and  Dorpat.  Cities  in  the  various  parts 
of  Poland  and  families  of  distinction  embraced  the  new 
faith.  In  1548  a  multitude  of  Bohemian  Brethren,  exiles 
from  their  country,  came  in  to  strengthen  the  Protestant 
interest.  In  this  year  Sigismund  I.  died,  and  was  suc- 
ceeded by  his  son,  Sigismund  II.,  or  Sigismund  Augus- 
tus, who  was  friendly  to  the  evangelical  doctrine.  Cal- 
vin dedicated  to  him  his  Commentary  on  the  Epistle  to 
the  Hebrews,  and  subsequently  corresponded  with  him. 
In  the  Diet  of  1552,  strong  indignation  was  manifested 
against  the  clergy  on  account  of  the  proceedings  of  an 
ecclesiastical  tribunal  against  Stadnicki,  an  eminent  noble- 
man. The  clergy  were  forbidden  to  inflict  any  temporal 
punishment  on  those  whom  they  might  pronounce  hetero- 
dox.1 At  a  Diet  at  Piotrkow  in  1555,  a  national  council 
for  the  settlement  of  religious  differences  was  demanded, 
and  was  prevented  from  assembling  only  by  the  strenuous 
exertions  of  the  Pope.  Religious  freedom  was  granted 
by  the  king  to  the  cities  of  Dantzic,  Thorn,  and  Elbing  ; 
and  also  to  Livonia  in  the  treaty  of  1561,  by  which  it 
was  annexed  to  Poland.  Dissension  among  Protestants 
themselves  was  the  chief  hindrance  in  the  way  of  the 
complete  diffusion  of  the  Protestant  faith,  which  at  this 
time  had  penetrated  all  ranks  of  society.  The  Calvinists 
were  numerous ;  they  organized  themselves  according  to 
the  Presbyterian  form,  and  a  union  between  them  and  the 
Brethren,  in  respect  to  doctrine,  was  cemented  at  a  synod 
in  1555.  Opposed  to  these  were  the  Lutherans,  who 
were  mostly  Germans,  and  who  took  little  pains  to  prop- 
agate their  system  through  the  instrumentality  of  any 
other  language  than  their  own.  The  Unitarians  formed 
a  third  party,  which  found  a  leader  in  the  erudite  Italian, 

1  Krasinski,   Relic/.  Hist,  of  the  Slavonic  Nations,  pp.  132,  133;    Regenvol- 
scius,  Hist.  Eccks.  Slavonicarum  (1G54),  p.  209. 


JOHN  A  LASCO.  187 

Faustus  Socinus,  and  became  strong,  in  particular  among 
the  higher  classes.  The  intestine  divisions  among  the 
Protestants  afforded  in  various  ways  a  great  advantage 
#to  their  antagonists.  An  able,  accomplished,  and  inde- 
fatigable defender  of  Catholicism  was  found  in  Hosius, 
Bishop  of  Culm,  and,  after  1551,  of  Ermeland.  On  the 
Protestant  side,  conspicuous  for  his  efforts  in  behalf  of 
union,  as  well  as  for  his  general  character  and  diversified 
labors,  was  John  a  Lasco.  Born  of  a  wealthy  and  aris- 
tocratic family  in  Poland,  he  was  destined  for  the  priest- 
hood, and  after  completing  his  studies  in  his  native 
country,  he  resorted  to  foreign  universities,  especially  Lou- 
vain  and  Basel.  At  Basel  he  was  intimate  with  Erasmus, 
and  for  a  time  an  inmate  of  his  house.  For  eleven  years, 
from  the  year  1526,  he  labored  to  establish  in  Poland  a 
reformation  after  the  Erasmian  type.  Finding  his  exertions 
fruitless,  he  left  his  country,  took  a  more  decided  position 
on  the  Protestant  side,  and  for  a  number  of  years  superin- 
tended the  organization  of  the  Protestant  Church  in  East 
Friesland.  After  the  Smalcaldic  war  and  the  passage  of 
the  Interim,  he  Avent  to  England,  where  he  was  brought 
into  a  close  relation  with  Cranmer,  and  took  charge  of 
the  church  of  foreign  residents,  first  in  London  and  then, 
from  1553  to  1556,  in  Frankfort.  After  the  Polish  Diet 
in  1556  had  granted  a  free  exercise  of  the  Protestant  re- 
ligion in  the  houses  of  individual  noblemen,  Lasco  was 
called  back  to  his  country  by  King  Sigismund.  Here  he 
labored  to  promote  unity  between  the  Calvinists  and 
Lutherans,  and  for  the  spread  of  the  Protestant  faith. 
He  died  in  1560.  Ten  years  after,  the  Lutherans,  in- 
fluenced by  counsel  from  Wittenberg,  where  the  school  of 
Melancthon  then  had  sway,  joined  with  the  Swiss  and 
the  Brethren,  at  the  Synod  of  Sendomir,  in  the  adoption 
of  a  common  creed.  This  Confession  is  consonant  with 
the  Calvinistic  view  of  the  sacrament,  but  it  carefully 
avoids  language  that  might  give  offense  to   Lutherans  ; 


188  REFORMATION   IN  HUNGARY. 

and  it  includes  an  explicit  sanction  of  the  Saxon  Confes- 
sion, which  had  been  prepared  to  be  sent  to  the  Council 
of  Trent.1  After  the  death  of  Sigismund  in  1572,  the 
crown  became  elective,  and  the  sovereigns  were  obliged  to# 
assent  to  the  "  Pax  Dissidentium,"  which  guaranteed 
equality  of  rights  to  all  churches  in  the  kingdom.  Under 
the  term  "  Dissidents  "  were  included  the  Catholics  as 
well  as  the  other  religious  bodies.  The  Duke  of  Anjou, 
afterwards  Henry  III.  of  France,  on  being  elected  King  of 
Poland,  in  15T:3,  found  it  impossible  to  escape  from  taking 
solemn  oaths  to  protect  the  Protestant  religion  against 
persecution  and  aggression.  But  the  royal  power  was  so 
much  weakened  that,  although  the  monarchs  might  effect 
much  by  the  bestowal  of  honors  and  offices,  the  fate  of 
Protestantism  depended  mainly  on  the  disposition  of  the 
nobles.  To  detach  these  from  the  Protestant  side  and  to 
gain  them  over  to  the  Catholic  Church,  through  institu- 
tions of  education  and  by  other  influences,  formed  one 
prime  object  of  the  Jesuits  ;  to  whom,  in  connection  with 
the  fatal  divisions  and  quarrels  of  Protestants,  the  Cath- 
olic reaction  was  to  be  indebted  for  its  great  success  in 
Poland. 

Numerous  Germans  were  settled  in  Hungary,  by  whom 
the  docl  rines  and  the  writings  of  Luther  were  brought  into 
that  country.  Bohemian  Brethren,  and  Waldenses  yet 
more,  contributed  to  the  favorable  reception  of  Protes- 
tantism by  ill i'  people  among  whom  they  dwelt.  Hun- 
garian students  not  only  resorted  to  the  universities  of 
Poland,  but  went  to  Wittenberg  also,  and  returned  to 
disseminate  the  principles  which  they  had  learned  from 
Luther  and  Melancthon.  It  was  in  vain  that  the  new  faith 
was  forbidden.  A  savage  law  against  Lutherans,  which 
was  passed  at  the  Diet  of  Ofen,  in  1523,  did  not  stop  the 

1  The  Consensus  Polonia  or  Sendomiretms  is  in  Niemeyer,  Collectio  Confes- 
sionum,  p.  553.     Krasinski,  Hist,  of  the  Ref.  in  Poland,  i.  c.  ix. 


CIVIL    WARS   IN    HUNGARY.  189 

progress  of  the  Protestant  movement.  It  emanated  from 
the  people,  and  silently  spread  with  great  rapidity.  In 
1523,  the  Protestants  were  the  prevailing  party  in  Her- 
mannstadt,  and  two  years  after,  the  five  royal  free  cities 
in  Upper  Hungary  adopted  the  Reformation.1  The  new 
views  were  embraced  also  by  powerful  nobles.  At  the 
beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century,  princes  of  the  Slavonic 
House  of  Jagellon  reigned  in  the  three  kingdoms  of  Po- 
land, Bohemia,  and  Hungary.  But  they  found  it  for  their 
interest  to  connect  themselves,  by  matrimonial  alliances, 
with  the  ruling  family  in  Austria.2  Louis  II.,  in  1526, 
attempted  to  stem  the  great  invasion  of  the  Turks,  under 
Soliman,  with  an  insufficient  force,  and  perished  after  his 
great  defeat  at  Mohacs.  Ferdinand  of  Austria  claimed 
the  thrones  of  Bohemia  and  Hungary,  which  the  death 
of  Louis  left  vacant.  By  prudent  management,  he  suc- 
ceeded in  procuring  his  election  as  King  of  Bohemia, 
against  his  ambitious  competitor,  the  Duke  of  Bavaria. 
In  Hungary  he  entered  into  war  with  a  rival  aspirant  to 
the  crown,  one  of  the  great  magnates,  John  of  Zapolya, 
voivode  of  Transylvania.  Both  Ferdinand  and  Zapolya 
found  it  expedient  to  denounce  the  Protestants,  in  order  to 
secure  the  support  of  the  bishops.  But  neither  found  it 
possible,  in  the  circumstances  in  which  they  were  placed, 
to  engage  in  persecution.  During  this  domestic  conflict, 
the  Reformation  advanced  in  the  portions  of  Hungary 
not  occupied  by  the  Turks.  By  the  peace  of  1538,  Ferdi- 
nand gained  the  throne.  John  was  to  retain  Transylva- 
nia, and  a  part  of  Upper  Hungary,  during  his  life.  After 
his  death,  his  Queen,  Isabella,  clung  to  his  possessions, 
and  this  was  the  occasion  of  a  continuance  of  war.  The 
whole  Saxon  population  of  Transylvania  adopted  the 
Augsburg  Confession;  the  Synod  of  Erdod,  in  Hungary, 
issued  a  like  declaration.  Even  the  widow  of  Louis 
favored  the  Lutheran  doctrine.     Queen  Isabella,  in  1557, 

1  Gieseler,  iv.  i.  2,  §  16.  '*  Ranke,  Deutsch.  Geschichte,  ii.  280  seq. 


190  THE  REFORMATION   IN   HUNGARY. 

granted  to  the  adherents  of  the  Augsburg  Confession, 
equal  political  rights  with  the  Catholics.  Hungary,  like 
Poland,  was  a  severe  sufferer  through  the  strife  of 
Protestants  among  themselves.  The  Swiss  doctrine  of 
the  Eucharist  found  favor,  especially  among  the  native 
Hungarians.  It  derived  increased  popularity  after  the 
adoption  of  it  by  Matthew  Devay,  who  was  the  most 
eminent  of  the  Protestant  leaders.1  After  studying  at 
Cracow,  he  resided  for  a  time  at  Wittenberg,  in  the  fam- 
ily of  Luther ;  and,  after  his  return  to  his  country,  became 
a  very  successful  preacher  of  the  Lutheran  doctrines.  He 
was  more  than  once  imprisoned,  but  did  not  cease,  by 
preaching  and  by  his  publications,  to  promote  the  Prot- 
estant cause.  In  1538,  he  published  a  Magyar  transla- 
tion of  the  Epistles  of  St.  Paul,  and  three  years  after- 
wards, a  version  of  the  Gospels.  Devay  had  been  inti- 
mate with  Melancthon,  who  preached  in  Latin  to  him  and 
to  other  students  who  did  not  understand  German  ;  and  he 
was  well  acquainted  with  Grynaeus  and  other  Swiss  Re- 
formers. About  the  year  1540,  Devay  began  to  promul- 
gate the  Calvinistic  view  of  the  Sacrament,  to  the  amaze- 
ment and  disgust  of  Luther,  who  expressed  his  surprise  in 
letters  to  Hungarians.  In  1557,  or  1558,  a  Calvinistic 
creed  was  adopted  by  a  Synod  at  Czenger.2  The  Calvin- 
istic doctrine  ultimately  prevailed  and  established  itself 
among  the  Magyar  Protestants.  In  Transylvania,  the 
Unitarians  were  numerous,  and  they  were  granted  tolera- 
tion in  1571 ;  so  that  four  legalized  forms  of  religion 
existed  there.  Notwithstanding  the  unhappy  contest  of 
Lutherans  and  Calvinists,  Protestantism  continued  to 
gain  ground  in  Hungary,  through  the  reigns  of  Ferdinand 
I.  and  Maximilian  II.,  and  for  a  long  time  under  Rudolph 

1  Herzog,  ReaLEncyclj  vol.  xix.     Lampe,  Hist.  Eccl.  Ref.  in  Hungaria  et 
Transylvania  (1728),  p.  72. 

2  Confessio  Czengerina,  in  Niemeyer,  p.  542.     In  1556  all  of  the  Hungarian 
Calvinistic  churches  submitted  to  the  Cunfessio  Helvetica. 


PREVALENCE   OF   PROTESTANTISM.  191 

II.  Only  three  magnates  remained  in  the  old  Church. 
But  Hungary  was  to  furnish  a  field  on  which  the  Catholic 
Reaction,  under  the  management  of  the  Jesuits,  would 
exert  its  power  with  marked  success.1 

1  At  an  early  date,  there  were  numerous  followers  of  Luther  in  the  Nether- 
lands; hut  it  will  he  more  convenient  to  narrate  the  progress  of  Protestantism 
in  other  countries,  after  descrihinec  the  rise  of  Calvinism 


CHAPTER  VII. 

JOHN   CALVIN   AND   THE   GENEVAN   REFORMATION. 

The  Reformation  was  firmly  established  in  Germany 
before  it  had  taken  root  or  had  found  an  acknowledged 
leader  anionof  the  Romanic  nations.  Such  a  leader  at 
length  appeared  in  the  person  of  John  Calvin,  whose  in- 
fluence was  destined  to  extend  much  beyond  the  bounds 
of  the  Latin  nations,  and  whose  name  was  to  go  down  to 
posterity  in  frequent  association  with  that  of  Luther.1 
Calvin  was  born  at  Noyon,  in  PicarchT,  on  the  10th  of 
July,  1509.  He  was  only  eight  years  old  when  Luther 
posted  his  theses.  He  belongs  to  the  second  generation 
of  reformers,  and  this  circumstance  is  important  as  affect- 
ing both  his  own  personal  history  and  the  character  of  his 
work.  When  he  arrived  at  manhood,  the  open  war  upon 
the  old  Church  had  already  been  waged  for  a  score  of 
years.  The  family  of  Calvin  had  been  of  humble  rank, 
but  it  was  advanced  by  his  father,  who  held  various 
offices,  including  that  of  notary  in  the  ecclesiastical  court 
at  Noyon,  and  secretary  to  the  bishopric.  The  physical 
constitution  of  Calvin  was  not  strong,  but  his  uncommon 
intellectual  power  was  early  manifest.     Attracting  the  re- 

i  The  Lift  of  Calvin,  by  Theodore  Beza,  is  the  work  of  a  contemporary  and 
friend :  Das  Ltben  Johann  Calvins,  von  Paid  Henry  (Hamburg,  1835),  a 
thorough,  but  diffusely  written  biography:  Johann  Calvin,  seine  Kirch  u.  sein 
Staat  in  Genf  von  F.  W.  Kampschulte,  Erster  Band  (Leipzic,  L869).  Kanin- 
Bchulte  is  a  Roman  Catholic,  thorough  in  his  researches  and  dispassionate,  but 
not  friendly  to  Calvin.  Eenry  and  Kampschulte  may  be  profitably  read 
together.  Johannes  Calvin,  Leben  u.  ausgtwahltt  Schriften,  von  Dr.  L.  Stahelin 
(Elberfeld,  18">3).  This  is  the  best  of  the  German  lives  of  the  reformer.  A 
valuable,  impartial  Life  <>J   Calvin  is  that  of  Dyer  (London,  1850). 


THE  EDUCATION  OF  CALVIN.  193 

gard  of  the  noble  family  of  Mommor,  residing  at  Noyon, 
he  was  taken  under  their  patronage  and  instructed  with 
their  children.  He  had  no  experience  of  the  rough  con- 
flict with  penury  which  many  of  the  German  and  Swiss 
reformers  were  obliged  in  their  youth  to  undergo.  When 
only  twelve  years  old,  he  was  made  the  recipient  of  the 
income  of  a  chaplaincy,  to  which,  a  few  years  afterwards, 
the  income  of  another  benefice  was  added.  At  the  outset 
his  father  intended  that  he  should  be  a  priest.  Trans- 
ferred to  Paris,  he  was  first  in  the  College  de  la  Marche, 
where  he  was  taught  Latin  by  a  cultivated  Humanist, 
Maturin  Cordier,  better  known  under  the  name  of  Cor- 
derius,  for  whom  he  cherished  a  life-long  attachment,  and 
whom  he  succeeded  in  placing  in  charge  of  his  school  at 
Geneva.  He  also  studied  in  the  College  Montaigu,  where 
he  was  trained  in  scholastic  logic  under  a  learned  Span- 
iard, who  afterwards,  in  the  same  school,  guided  the 
studies  of  Ignatius  Loyola.1  There  Calvin  surpassed  his 
companions  in  assiduity  and  aptitude  to  learn  ;  but  he 
spent  much  of  the  time  by  himself,  and  from  his  serious, 
and,  perhaps,  severe  turn  of  mind,  was  nicknamed  "  The 
Accusative  Case."  2  He  had  reached  his  eighteenth  year, 
had  received  the  tonsure,  and  even  preached  occasionally, 
but  had  not  taken  orders,  when  his  father,  from  ambitious 
motives,  changed  his  plan  and  concluded  to  qualify  his 
son  for  the  profession  of  a  jurist.3  He  accordingly  prose- 
cuted his  legal  studies  under  celebrated  teachers  at  Or- 
leans and  Bourges.  As  a  student  of  law  he  attained  the 
highest  proficiency  and  distinction.  He  undermined  his 
health  by  studying  late  into  the  night,  in  order  to 
arrange*  and  digest  the  contents  of  the  lectures  which  he 
had  heard  during  the  day.4     Early   in   the   morning  he 

i  Kampschulte,  i.  223.  2  Guizot,  St.  Lotus  aw?  Calvin,  p.  155. 

3  Calvin  says  of  his  father:  "  Quum  videret  legum  scientiam  passim  augere 
suos  cultores  opibus,  spes  ilia  repente  cum  impulit  ad  mutandum  consilium." 
—  Pre/are  to  the  Psalms. 

4  Beza,  Vita  Johannis  Calvini,  ii.  "  Somni  pcene  nullius,"  says  Beza  in  hi» 
closing  remarks  upon  Calvin,  xxxi. 

13 


194   JOHN  CALVIN  AND  THE  GENEVAN  REFORMATION. 

"would  awake  to  repeat  to  himself  what  he  had  thus  re- 
duced to  order.  He  never  required  but  a  few  hours  for 
sleep,  and,  as  was  also  the  case  with  Melancthon,  his  in- 
tense mental  activity  frequently  kept  him  awake  through 
the  night.  So  highly  was  he  esteemed  by  his  instructors 
that  often  when  they  were  temporarily  absent  he  took 
their  place.  At  the  same  time  he  indulged  his  taste  for 
literature,  and  learned  Greek  from  the  German  Professor 
of  that  language,  Melchior  Wolmar,  who  had  adopted 
Protestant  opinions  and  whose  influence  would  naturally 
tend  to  remove  prejudices  of  his  pupil  against  the  new 
doctrine.  Before  this  time,  at  the  urgent  request  of  a 
Protestant  relative,  Peter  Olivetan,  afterwards  the  first 
Protestant  translator  of  the  Bible  into  French,  he  had 
directed  his  attention  to  the  study  of  the  Scriptures.  In 
1530,  having  completed  his  law  studies,  he  returned  to 
Paris,  and  we  have  little  knowledge  of  him  up  to  1532, 
the  date  of  his  first  publication,  an  annotated  edition  of 
Seneca's  treatise  on  "  Clemency."  It  has  been  erroneously 
supposed  that  he  hoped  by  this  work  to  move  Francis  I. 
to  adopt  a  milder  policy  towards  the  persecuted  Prot- 
estants. No  such  design  appears  in  the  book.1  On  the 
contrary,  at  this  time,  Calvin  had  no  other  plan  than  that 
of  pursuing  the  career  of  a  Humanist,  and  aimed  to  bring 
himself  into  notice  as  a  scholar  and  author.  It  is  prob- 
able that  his  notions  of  reform  were  in  sympathy  with 
those  of  Reuchlin  and  Erasmus.     He  wrrites  to  his  friends 

1  That  the  commentary  on  Seneca  was  designed  to  affect  the  French  King  in 
this  way,  and  was  composed,  therefore,  after  Calvin's  conversion,  is  assumed  by 
many,  among  whom  are  Henry,  i.  50,  and  Herzog  in  the  art.  "  Calvin  "  in  the 
Real.  Encycl.  d.  Theol.,  edited  by  himself;  also  by  Guizot,  St.  Louis  and  Calvin, 
p.  162.  For  the  evidence  to  the  contrary,  see  Stahelin,  i.  14.  The  dedication 
(to  the  Abbot  of  St.  Eloy)  is  dated  April  4,  15-32.  Stahelin  gives  1533  as  the 
date  of  his  conversion.  But  we  have  a  letter  of  Calvin  to  Bucer,  dated  September 
4,  1532.  Calvin  says  (Preface  to  the  Psalms)  that  in  less  than  a  year  after  his 
conversion  the  Protestants  were  looking  to  him  for  instruction.  This  religious 
change  must  have  been  shortly  after  the  publication  of  Seneca's  treatise.  This 
supposition  best  accords  with  Beza's  statement,  Vita  Calvini,  ii. 


THE  CONVERSION  OF  CALVIN.  195 

to  aid  in  circulating  his  book  and  in  calling  attention  to 
it,  a  part  of  his  motive  being,  however,  to  reimburse  him- 
self for  the  cost  of  the  publication.1  His  notes  on  Seneca 
show  his  wide  acquaintance  with  the  classics,  his  discrim- 
ination and  his  power  of  lucid  statement.  It  was  shortly 
after  the  issue  of  this  work,  that  his  "  sudden  conversion, * 
to  use  his  own  expression,  took  place.  He  writes  :  "  After 
my  heart  had  long  been  prepared  for  the  most  earnest 
self-examination,  on  a  sudden  the  full  knowledge  of  the 
truth,  like  a  bright  light,  disclosed  to  me  the  abyss  of 
errors  in  which  I  was  weltering,  the  sin  and  shame  with 
which  I  was  defiled.  A  horror  seized  on  my  soul,  when 
I  became  conscious  of  my  wretchedness  and  of  the  more 
terrible  misery  that  was  before  me.  And  what  was  left, 
O  Lord,  for  me,  miserable  and  abject,  but,  with  tears  and 
cries  of  supplication  to  abjure  the  old  life  which  Thou 
condemned,  and  to  flee  into  Thy  path  ?  "  He  describes 
himself  as  having  striven  in  vain  to  attain  inward  peace 
by  the  methods  set  forth  in  the  teaching  of  the  Church. 
But  the  more  he  had  directed  his  eye  inward,  or  upward 
to  God,  the  more  did  his  conscience  torment  him.  "  Only 
one  haven  of  salvation  is  there  for  our  souls,"  he  says, 
4W  and  that  is  the  compassion  of  God,  which  is  offered  to 
us  in  Christ  "  :  "  We  are  saved  by  grace,  not  by  our 
merits,  not  by  our  works.  Since  we  embrace  Christ  by 
faith,  and,  as  it  were,  enter  into  his  fellowship,  we 
call  this,  in  the  language  of  Scripture,  '  justification 
by  faith.' '  Although  we  know  less  of  Calvin's  in- 
ward experience,  yet  its  essential  identity  with  that 
of  Luther,  is  obvious.  Calvin  had  hesitated  about  be- 
coming a  Protestant,  out  of  reverence  for  the  Church. 
But  he  so  modified  his  conception  of  the  Church  as  to 
perceive  that  the  change  did  not  involve  a  renunciation 
of  it.2      Membership  in  the  true  Church  was  consistent 

1  Bonnet,  Letters  of  Calvin,  i.  7,  8. 

a  Epist.  ad  Sadokt.     Opera  (ed.  Reuss  et  a).),  vol.  v.  385  seq. 


106      JOHN   CALVIN   AND   THE   GENEVAN  REFORMATION. 

with  renouncing  the  rule  of  the  Roman  Catholic  prelacy  ; 
for  the  Church,  in  its  essence  invisible,  exists  in  a  true 
form  wherever  the  Gospel  is  faithfully  preached  and  the 
sacraments  administered  conformably  to  the  directions  of 
Christ.  Calvin  was  naturally  reserved  and  even  bashful ; 
he  aspired  after  nothing  higher,  either  after  or  before  his 
conversion,  than  the  opportunity  to  pursue  his  studies  in 
retirement.  He  had  an  instinctive  repugnance  to  pub- 
licity and  conflict.  His  former  studies,  to  be  sure,  had 
now  a  secondary  place  ;  his  whole  soul  was  absorbed  in 
the  examination  of  the  Bible  and  in  the  investigation  of 
religious  truth.1  But  still  he  craved  seclusion  and  quiet. 
He  found,  however,  that,  notwithstanding  his  youth,  in 
the  company  of  the  persecuted  Protestants  at  Paris  he 
was  quickly  regarded  as  a  leader,  and  his  counsel  was 
sought  by  all  who  had  need  of  religious  instruction.  But 
this  sort  of  labor  was  of  short  continuance.  He  wrote  for 
his  friend,  Nicholas  Cop,  who  had  been  made  Rector  of 
the  University,  an  opening  address,  in  which  were  intro- 
duced the  ideas  of  the  Reformation  ;  and  the  excitement 
that  was  produced  by  the  delivery  of  it  obliged  both  of 
them  to  fly  in  order  to  escape  arrest.  Calvin  first  went  to 
Angouleme,  where  he  enjoyed  the  society  of  his  friend 
Louis  du  Tillet  and  the  use  of  a  good  library,  which  he 
turned  to  the  best  account.  Then  he  visited  Beam, 
and  at  the  court  of  Margaret,  the  Queen  of  Navarre,  sister 
of  Francis  I.,  he  met  the  aged  Lefevrc,  the  father  of  the 
Reformation  in  France.  He  went  to  Noyou,  where  lie 
parted  with  the  benefices,  the  income  of  which  he  could 
not  conscientiously  retain,  and  then  returned  to  Paris. 
The  imprudent  zeal  of  the  Protestants,  in  posting  placards 
against  the  mass,  stirred  up  the  anger  of  the  court,  and 
Calvin  was  again  obliged  to  fly.     Not  without  an  inward 

1  "Aliquo  vonc  pietatis  gustu  imbutns,  tanto  proficiendi  studio  oxarsi,  ut 
ccliqua  studia  quanivis  non  abjiccrcm,  frigidius  tamen  sectarer."  —  Pre/,  to  (he 
Psalms, 


THE    "  INSTITUTES."  197 

struggle  and  tears  he  bade  farewell  to  his  country.1  About 
this  time,  he  put  forth  his  first  theological  publication,  the 
"  Psychopannychia,"  a  polemical  book  against  the  doc- 
trine which  was  professed  by  Anabaptists,  that  the  soul 
sleeps  between  death  and  the  resurrection.  At  Stras- 
burg  he  was  warmly  received  by  Bucer,  and  at  Basel  by 
Grynaeus  and  Capito.  At  Basel  he  began  to  acquire  the 
Hebrew  language,  and  was  able  to  gratify  his  strong  in- 
clination for  retirement  and  study.  It  was  here  that  he 
wrote  his  "  Institutes."  The  first  edition  was  only  the 
germ  of  the  work,  which  grew  in  successive  issues  to  its 
present  size.2  What  moved  him  to  the  composition  of  it 
was  the  cruel  persecution  to  which  his  brethren  were  sub- 
ject in  France.  He  wished  to  remove  the  impression  that 
they  were  fanatical  Anabaptists,  seeking  the  overthrow 
of  civil  order,  which  their  oppressors,  in  order  to  pacify 
the  displeasure  of  German  Lutherans,  industriously  prop- 
agated.3 He  was  desirous  of  bringing  Francis  I.  into 
sympathy  with  the  new  doctrine.  For  this  last  end,  the 
dedication  to  the  king,  which  has  been  generally  admired 
for  its  literary  merit,  and  as  a  condensed  and  powerful 
vindication  of  the  Protestant  cause,  was  composed.  This 
eloquent  appeal  to  the  justice  of  the  king  concludes  thus : 
"  But  if  your  ears  are  so  preoccupied  with  the  whispers  of 
the  malevolent  as  to  leave  no  opportunity  for  the  accused 
to  speak  for  themselves,  and  if  those  outrageous  furies, 
with  your  connivance,  continue  to  persecute  with  impris- 
onments, scourges,  tortures,  confiscations,  and  ilames,  we 
shall  indeed,  like  sheep  destined  to  the  slaughter,  be  re- 

1  Henry,  i.  15G. 

2  The  interesting  literary  question  as  to  the  language  in  which  it  first  ap- 
peared, whether  Latin  or  French,  may,  perhaps,  he  regarded  as  settled  It  was 
first  printed  in  Latin,  and  the  author's  name  wasattached  to  it.  See  the  Proleg- 
omena to  the  new  edition  of  Calvin's  writings,  edited  by  Baum,  ("unit/,  and 
Reuss;  and  Stahelin,  i.  61.  Guizot,  however,  still  holds  that  the  first  edition 
was  in  French.     St.  Louis  and  Calvin,  p.  17(1.     It  appeared  in  1536. 

3  This  he  says  was  his  sole  motive:  "  Nequc  in  alium  iinem,"  etc.  Pre/,  to 
the  Psalms. 


198   JOHN  CALVIN  AND  THE  GENEVAN  REFORMATION. 

duced  to  the  greatest  extremities.  Yet  shall  we  in  pa- 
tience possess  our  souls,  and  wait  for  the  mighty  hand  of 
the  Lord,  which  undoubtedly  will  in  time  appear,  and 
show  itself  armed  for  the  deliverance  of  the  poor  from 
their  affliction,  and  for  the  punishment  of  their  despisers, 
who  now  exult  in  such  perfect  security.  May  the  Lord, 
the  King  of  Kings,  establish  your  throne  with  righteous- 
ness, and  your  kingdom  with  equity."  Although  this 
famous  manual  was  much  amplified  from  time  to  time, 
until  it  appeared  with  the  author's  latest  changes  and 
additions  in  1559,  yet  the  doctrine  of  it  underwent  no 
alteration,  and  the  identity  of  the  work  was  always  pre- 
served.1 We  may  notice  in  this  place  some  of  Calvin's 
characteristics  as  a  writer  and  a  man.  His  direct  in- 
fluence was  predominantly  and  almost  exclusively  upon 
the  higher  classes  of  society.  He  and  his  system  acted 
powerfully  upon  the  people,  but  indirectly  through  the 
agency'  of  others.  He  was  a  patrician  in  his  tempera- 
ment. By  his  early  associations,  and  as  an  effect  of  his 
culture,  he  acquired  a  certain  refinement  and  decided  af- 
finities for  the  class  elevated  by  birth  or  education.  This 
was  one  of  his  points  of  dissimilarity  to  Luther :  he  was 
not  fitted,  like  the  German  reformer,  to  come  home  to 
"  the  bosoms  and  business  "  of  common  men.  He  bad 
not  the  popular  eloquence  of  Luther,  nor  had  he  the  genius 
that  left  its  impress  on  the  words  and  works  of  the  Saxon 
reformer;  but  lie  was  a  more  exact  and  finished  scholar 
than  Luther.  The  Latin  style  of  Calvin  has  been  uni- 
versally praised  for  its  classical  purity.  He  was  a  teree 
writer,  hating  diffuseness.  He  was  master  of  a  logical 
method,  a  great  lover  of  neatness  and  order.  In  all  his 
words  there  glows  the  fire  of  an  intense  conviction.  The 
"  Institutes  "  are  in  truth  a  continuous  oration,  in  which 
the  stream  of  discussion  rolls  onward  with  an  impetuous 

1  A  tabular  view  of  the  changes  in  the  successive  editions  is  presented  in  the 
new  edition  of  Calvin's  writings  (Rcuss  et  al.)>  vol.  i. 


THE    "  INSTITUTES."  199 

current,  yet  always  keeps  within  its  defined  channel.  The 
work,  in  its  whole  tone,  is  removed  as  far  as  possible  from 
the  dry  treatises  of  scholastic  theology,  with  which  it  has 
often  been  classed.  In  forming  an  estimate  of  Calvin,  as  a 
thinker,  the  first  thing  to  observe  is  that  he  was  a  French- 
man and  a  lawyer.  His  nature  and  his  training  conspired 
to  make  him  eminently  logical  and  systematic.  That 
talent  for  organization  which  is  ascribed  to  his  countrymen 
as  a  national  trait,  belonged  to  him  in  an  eminent  degree. 
It  was  manifested  in  the  products  of  his  intellect,  not 
less  than  in  his  practical  activity.  He  came  forward  at  a 
moment  when  the  ideas  of  the  Reformation  were  widely 
diffused,  but  when  no  adequate  reduction  of  them  to  a 
systematic  form  had  been  achieved.  The  dogmatic  trea- 
tise of  Melancthon,  meritorious  though  it  be,  was  of  com- 
paratively limited  scope.  The  field  was  for  the  most 
part  open  ;  and  when  Calvin  appeared  upon  it,  he  was 
at  once  recognized  as  fully  competent  for  his  task,  and 
greeted  by  Melancthon  himself  as  "  the  theologian." 
By  the  enemies  of  Protestantism  his  work  was  styled 
44  the  Koran  of  the  heretics."  Of  the  clearness,  coherence, 
and  symmetry  of  all  its  discussions,  there  is  no  need  to 
speak.  It  is  remarkable  that  the  theological  opinions  of 
Calvin  remained  unchanged  from  the  time  of  his  conver- 
sion to  his  death.1  This,  it  is  well  known,  was  far  from 
being  true  of  Luther,  or  of  Melancthon,  or  even  of  Zwingle. 
One  prime  characteristic  of  his  system  is  the  steadfast, 
consistent  adoption  of  the  Bible  as  the  sole  standard  of 
doctrine.  He  scouts  the  doctrine  that  the  truth  of  tho 
Bible  rests  on  the  authority  of  the  Church.  The  Divine 
authority  of  the  Bible  can  be  proved  by  reason ;  assured 
conviction  of  the  truth  of  the  Gospel  and  a  spiritual  insight 

1  Beza  has  noticed  this  fact —  Vita  Calvini,  xxxi.  Lecky  {History  nf  Ra- 
tionalism,  i.  -'>7-'i)  says,  speaking  of  the  eucharistic  controversy:  "Calvin  only 
arrived  at  his  final  views  after  a  long  series  of  oscillations."  This  is  quite  erro- 
neous; there  is  no  reason  for  thinking  that  Calvin  ever  had  hut  one  opinion  on 
this  subject,  after  his  conversion, 


200      JOHN   CALVIN   AND   THE   GENEVAN   REFORMATION. 

are  imparted  by  the  Holy  Ghost.  What  cannot  verify 
itself  by  the  explicit  authority  of  Scripture  counts  for 
nothing.  That  inbred  reverence  for  the  ancient  Church 
and  that  influence  of  Christian  antiquity,  which  are  seen 
in  Luther,  were  entirely  foreign  to  Calvin.  He  holds 
the  Fathers,  especially  Augustine,  in  esteem  ;  but  he 
makes  no  apologies  for  sharply  contradicting  them  all,  in 
case  he  deems  them  at  variance  with  Holy  Writ.  For 
the  Papacy,  and  for  the  tenets  and  rites  which  he  con- 
siders the  "impious  inventions  of  men,"  without  warrant 
from  the  Word  of  God,  he  feels  an  intense  hatred,  not 
unmingled  with  scorn.  Yet,  probably,  none  of  the  Re- 
formers speak  so  often  and  with  so  much  deference  of  the 
Church.  But  by  the  Church  he  means  something  differ- 
ent from  the  sacerdotal  organization  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
body.  He  holds  to  the  Church  invisible,  composed  of  true 
believers  ;  and  to  the  Church  visible,  the  criteria  of  which 
are  the  right  administration  of  the  Sacraments,  and  the 
teaching  of  the  Word.  For  the  visible  Church,  as  thus  con- 
stituted, he  feels  the  deepest  reverence,  and  holds  that  out 
of  it  there  is  no  salvation.  The  schismatic  cuts  himself 
off  from  Christ.  For  the  Church,  as  established  after  the 
model  of  the  New  Testament,  he  demands  a  submission 
little  short  of  that  which  the  Roman  Catholic  pay s  to  the 
authorized  expounders  of  his  faith.1  But  the  striking, 
the  peculiar  feature  of  Calvin's  system,  is  the  doctrine 
of  Predestination.  This  doctrine,  at  the  outset,  indeed, 
was  common  to  all  of  the  Reformers.  Predestination  is 
asserted  by  Luther,  in  his  book  on  the  "  Servitude  of  the 
Will,"  even  in  relation  to  wickedness,  in  terms  more 
emphatic  than  the  most  extreme  statements  of  Calvin. 
Melanctlion,  for  a  considerable  period,  wrote  in  the  same 
strain.  Zwingle,  in  his  metaphysical  theory,  did  not  dif- 
fer from   his   brother  Reformers.     They  were   united  in 

1  Sec,   for  example,   his  Acta  Synodi  Trhhntinas   cum  Antidote   (1547),    or 
Henry,  ii.  312. 


THE   DOCTRINE   OF   PREDESTINATION.  201 

reviving  the  Augustinian  theology,  in  opposition  to  the 
Pelagian  doctrine,  which  affected  in  a  greater  or  less  de- 
gree all  the  schools  of  Catholic  theology.  It  is  very  im- 
portant to  understand  the  motives  of  the  Reformers  in  this 
proceeding.  Calvin  was  not  a  speculative  philosopher 
who  thought  out  a  necessitarian  theory  and  defended  it 
for  the  reason  that  he  considered  it  capable  of  being 
logically  established.  It  is  true  that  the  key-note  in  his 
system  was  a  profound  sense  of  the  exaltation  of  God. 
Nothing  could  be  admitted  that  seemed  to  clash  in  the 
least  with  His  universal  control,  or  to  cast  a  shade  upon  His 
omniscience  and  omnipotence.  But  the  direct  grounds  or 
sources  of  his  doctrine  were  practical.  Predestination  to 
him  is  the  correlate  of  human  dependence  ;  the  counter- 
part of  the  doctrine  of  grace ;  the  antithesis  to  salvation 
by  merit ;  the  implied  consequence  of  man's  complete 
bondage  to  sin.  In  election,  it  is  involved  that  man's 
salvation  is  not  his  own  work,  but,  wholly,  the  work  of 
the  grace  of  God;  and  in  election,  also,  there  is  laid  a  sure 
foundation  for  the  believer's  security  under  all  the  as- 
saults of  temptation.  It  is  practical  interests  which  Cal- 
vin is  sedulous  to  guard  ;  he  clings  to  the  doctrine  for 
what  he  considers  its  religious  value  ;  and  it  is  no  more 
than  justice  to  him  to  remember  that  he  habitually  styles 
the  tenet,  which  proved  to  be  so  obnoxious,  an  unfathom- 
able m}-stery,  an  abyss  into  which  no  mortal  mind  can 
descend.  And,  whether  consistently  or  not,  there  is  the 
most  earnest  assertion  of  the  moral  and  responsible  nature 
of  man.  Augustine  had  held  that  in  the  fall  of  Adam 
the  entire  race  were  involved  in  a  common  act  and  a 
common  catastrophe.  The  will  is  not  destroyed  ;  it  is 
still  free  to  sin,  but  is  utterly  disabled  as  regards  holi- 
ness. Out  of  the  mass  of  mankind,  all  of  whom  are 
alike  guilty,  God  chooses  a  part  to  be  the  recipients  of 
his  mercy,  whom  He  purifies  by  an  irresistible  influence, 
but  leaves  the  rest  to  suffer  the  penalty  which   they  have 


202      JOHN   CALVIN   AND   THE   GENEVAN   REFORMATION. 

justly  brought  upon  themselves..  In  the  "Institutes,"  Cal- 
vin does  what  Luther  had  done  in  his  book  against  Eras- 
mus ;  he  makes  the  Fall  itself,  the  primal  transgression, 
the  object  of  an  efficient  decree.  In  this  particular  he 
goes  beyond  Augustine,  and  apparently  affords  a  sanction 
to  the  extreme,  or  supra-lapsarian  type  of  theology,  which 
afterwards  found  numerous  defenders  —  which  traces  sin 
to  the  direct  agency  of  God,  and  even  founds  the  distinc- 
tion of  right  and  wrong  ultimately  on  his  omnipotent  will.1 
But  when  Calvin  was  called  upon  to  define  his  doctrine 
more  carefully,  as  in  the  Consensus  Grenevensis,  he  confines 
himself  to  the  assertion  of  a  permissive  decree  —  a  volitive 
permission  —  in  the  case  of  the  first  sin.  In  other  words, 
he  does  not  overstep  the  Augustinian  position.  He  ex- 
plicitly avers  that  every  decree  of  the  Almighty  springs 
from  reasons  which,  though  hidden  from  us,  are  good  and 
sufficient ;  that  is  to  say,  he  founds  will  upon  right,  and 
not  right  upon  will.2  He  differs,  however,  both  from  Au- 
gustine and  Luther,  in  affirming  that  none  who  are  once 
converted  fall  from  a  state  of  grace,  the  number  of  be- 
lievers being  coextensive  with  the  number  of  the  elect. 
The  main  peculiarity  of  Calvin's  treatment  of  this  sub- 
ject, as  compared  with  the  course  pursued  by  the  other 
Reformers,  is  the  greater  prominence  which  he  gives  to 
Predestination.  It  stands  in  the  foreground  ;  it  is  never 
left  out  of  sight.  Luther's  practical  handling  of  this 
dogma  was  quite  different.  Under  his  influence  it  re- 
treated more  and  more  into  the  background,  until  not 
only  in  Melancthon's  system,  but  also  in  the  later  Lu- 
theran theology,  unconditional  Predestination  disappeared 
altogether. 

As  a  commentator,  the  ability  of  Calvin  is  very  great. 
The  first  of  his  series  of  works  in  this  department  —  his 

1  Inst,  in.  xxiii.  6  seq. 

-  Opera  (Amst.  ed.),  torn.  viii.  638,     "Clare  affirmo  nihil   decerncre  sine 
optima  causa:  qua?  si  hodie  nobis  incognita  est,  ultimo  die  patefiet." 


CALVIN   AS   A   COMMENTATOR.  203 

work  on  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans  —  was  issued  while 
he  was  at  Strasburg,  after  his  expulsion  from  Geneva. 
The  preparation  of  his  commentaries  was  always  the 
most  congenial  of  his  occupations.  If  his  readers,  he  once 
said,  gathered  as  much  profit  from  the  perusal,  as  he  did 
from  the  composition  of  them,  he  should  have  no  reason 
to  regret  the  labor  which  they  had  cost.  He  was  pos- 
sessed of  an  exegetical  tact  which  few  have  equaled.  He 
has  the  true  spirit  of  a  scholar.  He  detests  irrelevant 
talk  upon  a  passage,  but  unfolds  its  meaning  in  concise 
and  pointed  terms.  He  is  manly,  never  evades  difficul- 
ties, but  always  grapples  with  them  ;  and  he  is  candid. 
He  makes,  on  points  of  dogma,  qualifications  and  occa- 
sional concessions  which  are  generally  left  out  of  his  polem- 
ical treatises,  but  which  are  indispensable  to  a  correct 
appreciation  of  his  opinions.  If  he  created  an  epoch  in 
doctrinal  -theology,  it  is  equally  true  that  he  did  much  to 
found  a  new  era,  for  which,  however,  Melancthon  and 
others  had  paved  the  way,  in  the  exegesis  of  the  Scrip- 
tures. Luther  seized  on  the  main  idea  of  a  passage,  but 
was  less  precise  as  a  philological  critic.  The  palm  be- 
longs to  Luther,  as  a  translator;  to  Calvin,  as  an  inter- 
preter of  the  Word. 

Notwithstanding  the  radical  principles  of  Calvin,  it  de- 
serves to  be  remarked  that  as  a  practical  Reformer,  he 
was,  in  some  marked  particulars,  not  the  extremist  which 
he  is  commonly  supposed  to  have  been.  He  did  not  favor 
the  iconoclastic  measures  of  men  like  Knox.  He  was  not 
even  hostile  to  bishops  as  a  jure  humano  arrangement.1 
He  would  not  have  cared  to  abolish  the  four  Christian 
festivals,  which  the  Genevan  Church,  without  his  agency, 
early  discarded.  In  his  epistles  to  Somerset,  the  Protec- 
tor in  the  time  of  Edward  VI.,  and  to  the  English  Re- 
formers, he  criticizes  freely  the  Anglican  Church.  Too 
much,  he  said,  was   conceded  to  weak   brethren :   to  bear 

l  Henry,  ii.  138,  139. 


204        JOHN   CALVIN  AND   THE   GENEVAN   REFORMATION. 

with  the  weak  does  not  mean  that  "we  are  to  humor 
blockheads  who  wish  for  this  or  that,  without  knowing 
why."  He  thought  it  a  scandal,  he  wrote  to  Cranmer, 
that  so  many  papal  corruptions  remain  ;  for  example, 
that  "  idle  gluttons  are  supported  to  chant  vespers  in  an 
unknown  tongue."  But  he  was  indifferent  respecting 
various  customs  and  ceremonies,  which  a  more  rigid  Puri- 
tanism made  it  a  point  of  conscience  to  abjure. 

There  are  marked  personal  traits  of  Calvin,  which  ex- 
hibit themselves  in  his  letters  and  other  Avritings,  and 
which  we  shall  find  illustrated  in  the  course  of  his  life. 
Instead  of  the  geniality,  which  is  one  of  the  native  quali- 
ties of  Luther,  we  find  an  acerbity,  which  is  felt  more 
easily  than  described,  and  which,  more  than  anything 
else,  has  inspired  multitudes  with  aversion  to  him. 
Beza,  his  disciple,  friend,  and  biographer,  states  that  in 
his  boyhood  he  was  the  censor  of  the  faults  of  his  mates.1 
Through  life,  he  had  a  tone,  in  reminding  men  of  their 
real  or  supposed  delinquencies,  which  provoked  resent- 
ment. To  those  much  older  than  himself,  to  men  like 
Cranmer  and  Melancthon,  he  wrote  in  this  unconsciously 
cutting  style.  There  was  much  in  the  truthfulness,  fidel- 
ity, and  courage,  which  he  manifests  even  in  his  reproofs, 
to  command  respect.  Yet,  there  was  a  tart  quality  which, 
coupled  with  his  unyielding  tenacity  of  opinion,  was 
adapted  to  provoke  disesteem.  We  learn  from  Calvin 
himself,  that  Melancthon,  mild  as  he  was  naturally,  was 
so  offended  at  the  style  of  one  of  his  admonitory  epistles, 
that  he  tore  it  in  pieces.  The  wretched  health  of  Calvin, 
with  the  enormous  burdens  of  labor  that  rested  upon  him 
for  years,  had  an  unfavorable  effect  upon  a  temper  nat- 
urally irritable  lie  was  occasionally  so  carried  away  by 
gusts  of  passion,  that  he  lost  all  self-control.2     He  ac- 

i  It  was  a  current  phrase  at  Geneva  :  "  Besscr  mit  Beza  in  der  Hi/lie  als  mit 
Calvin  im  Himniel."     Henry,  i.  171. 

2  See  his  Letter  to  Fare!  (April.  1539),  Henry,  i.  25G.  See  also,  p.  435  seq., 
ii.  432.  "  The  mass  of  his  occupations,"  Calvin  says,  "had  confirmed  him  in  an 
irritable  habit."    Henry,  i.  465. 


calvin's  personal  characteristics.  205 

knowledges  this  fault  with  the  utmost  frankness  ;  he  had 
tried  in  vain,  he  says,  to  tame  "  the  wild  beast  of  his  an- 
ger ; "  and  on  his  death-bed  he  asked  pardon  of  the  Sen- 
ate of  Geneva  for  outbursts  of  passion,  while  at  the  same 
time  he  thanked  them  for  their  forbearance.  The  later  bi- 
ographers of  Calvin,  even  such  as  admire  him  most,  have 
remarked  that  his  piety  was  unduly  tinged  with  the  Old 
Testament  spirit.  It  is  significant  that  the  great  majority 
of  the  texts  of  his  homilies  and  sermons,  as  far  as  they  have 
been  preserved,  are  from  the  ancient  Scriptures.  Homage 
to  law  is  a  part  of  his  being.  To  bring  thought,  feeling, 
and  will,  to  bring  his  own  life,  and  the  lives  of  others,  to 
bring  Church  and  State  into  subjection  to  law,  is  his 
principal  aim.  He  is  overcome  Avith  awe  at  the  incon- 
ceivable power  and  holiness  of  God.  This  thought  i3 
uppermost  in  his  mind.  Of  his  conversion,  he  writes  : 
"  God  suddenly  produced  it ;  he  suddenly  subdued  my 
heart  to  the  obedience  of  His  will."  To  obey  the  will  of 
God  was  his  supreme  purpose  in  life,  and  in  this  purpose 
his  soul  was  undivided  ;  no  mutinous  feeling  was  suffered 
to  interpose  a  momentary  instance.  But  the  tender, 
filial  temper  often  seems  lost  in  the  feeling  of  the  subject 
toward  his  lawful  Ruler.  A  sense  of  the  exaltation  of 
God  not  only  takes  away  all  fear  of  men,  but  seems  to  be 
attended  with  some  loss  of  sensibility  with  regard  to 
their  lot.  To  promote  the  honor  of  God,  and  to  secure 
that  end  at  all  hazards,  is  the  chief  object  in  view. 
Whatever,  in  his  judgment,  brings  dishonor  upon  the 
Almighty,  as,  for  example,  attacks  made  upon  the  truth, 
moves  his  indignation,  and  he  feels  bound,  in  conscience, 
to  confront  such  attacks  with  a  pitiless  hostility.  He  con- 
siders it  an  imperative  duty,  as  he  expressly  declares,  to 
hate  the  enemies  of  God.  In  reference  to  them,  he  says : 
"  I  would  rather  be  crazed,  than  not  be  angry."  1  Hence, 
though    not    consciously   vindictive,    and   though    really 

1  Henry,  i.  4G4. 


206         JOHN   CALVIN  AND   THE   GENEVAN   REFORMATION. 

placable  in  various  instances  where  he  was  personally 
wronged,  he  was  on  fire  the  moment  that  he  conceived 
the  honor  of  God  to  be  assailed.  How  difficult  it  would 
be  for  such  a  man  to  discriminate  between  personal  feel- 
ing and  zeal  for  a  cause  with  which  he  felt  himself  to  be 
thoroughly  identified,  it  is  easy  to  understand.  Calvin 
did  not  touch  human  life,  at  so  many  points,  as  did  Luther  ; 
and  having  a  less  broad  sympathy  himself,  he  has  attracted 
less  sympathy  from  others.  The  poetic  inspiration  that 
gave  birth  to  the  stirring  hymns  of  the  German  Reformer, 
was  not  among  his  gifts.  He  wrote  a  poem  in  Latin  hex- 
ameters, on  the  triumph  of  Christ,  which  was  composed 
at  Worms  during  the  Conference  there  —  in  which  he 
describes  Eck,  Cochlams,  and  other  Catholic  combatants, 
as  dragged  after  the  chariot  of  the  victorious  Redeemer. 
A  few  hymns,  mostly  versions  of' Psalms,  have  lately  been 
traced  to  his  pen.1  It  has  been  noticed  that  although  he 
spent  the  most  of  his  life  on  the  borders  of  the  Lake  of 
Geneva,  he  nowhere  alludes  to  the  beautiful  scenery  about 
him.  Yet,  there  is  something  impressive,  though  it  be  a 
defect,  in  this  exclusive  absorption  of  his  mind  in  things 
invisible.  When  we  look  at  his  extraordinary  intellect, 
at  his  culture — which  opponents,  like  Bossuet,  have  been 
forced  to  commend  —  at  the  invincible  energy  which  made 
him  endure  with  more  than  stoical  fortitude  infirmities  of 
body  under  which  most  men  would  have  sunk,  and  to 
perform,  in  the  midst  of  them,  an  incredible  amount  of 
mental  labor ;  when  we  see  him,  a  scholar  naturally  fond 
of  seclusion,  physically  timid,  and  recoiling  from  notori- 
ety and  strife,  abjuring  the  career  that  was  most  to  his 
taste,  and  plunging  with  a  single-hearted,  disinterested  zeal, 
and  an  indomitable  will,  into  a  hard,  protracted  contest ; 
and  when  we   follow  his  steps,  and  see  what  things  he 

1  See  Calvini  Opera,  (Reuss  et  al.)  vol.  vi.  One  of  these  hymns,  translated 
by  Mrs.  II.  15.  Smith,  is  in  Schaff's  collection  of  religious  poetry,  Christ  in  Song, 
(1869). 


CALVIN    ARRIVES    AT    GENEVA.  207 

effected,  we  cannot  deny  him  the  attributes  of  greatness. 
The  Senate  of  Geneva,  after  his  death,  spoke  of  "  the 
majesty  "  of  his  character. 

Calvin  published  the  first  edition  of  the  Institutes,  with- 
out the  knowledge  of  any  one,  at  Basel,  so  averse  was  he 
to  notoriety.  Apart  from  the  repute  of  this  work,  his 
fame  as  an  acute,  promising  theologian  was  extending. 
Having  visited  Italy,  and  remained  for  a  while  at  Ferrara, 
at  the  court  of  the  accomplished  Duchess,  the  daughter  of 
Louis  XII.,  and  the  protector  of  the  Protestants,  with 
whom  he  kept  up  a  correspondence  afterwards,  he  re- 
turned to  Basel,  and  thence  made  a  secret  visit  to  France, 
and  to  his  native  place.  On  account  of  the  obstruction 
of  the  route  through  Lorraine,  by  the  army  of  Charles  V., 
he  set  out  to  return  by  the  way  of  Geneva.  There  he 
arrived  on  the  5th  of  August,  1536,  with  the  design  of 
tarrying  but  a  single  night ;  after  which  he  expected  to 
pursue  his  journey  to  Basel.  Here  occurred  the  event 
that  shaped  the  future  course  of  his  life. 

The  war  of  Cappel,  in  which  Zwingle  had  fallen,  had 
left  the  preponderance  in  the  Swiss  Confederacy  in  the 
hands  of  the  Catholics.  They  used  their  power  to 
humiliate  their  adversaries  in  various  ways,  and  to  re- 
establish the  old  religion  in  some  districts  from  which  it 
had  been  expelled  or  in  which  the  people  Avere  divided. 
The  leading  cities  of  Zurich,  Berne,  and  Basel,  however, 
remained  faithful  to  the  Reformation.  A  mixture  of 
political  circumstances  and  religious  influences  at  length 
created  a  new  seat  for  Protestantism  at  Geneva. 

Geneva,  situated  on  the  border  of  Lake  Leman,  was  a 
fragment  of  the  old  Kingdom  of  Burgundy,  and  was 
governed  for  many  centuries  by  the  bishop,  who  was 
chosen  by  the  canons  of  the  Cathedral.  The  bishop,  by 
an  arrangement  with  the  neighboring  Counts  of  Geneva, 
had  committed  to  them  his  civil  jurisdiction  ;  but  on 
acceding  to  office,  he  always  swore  to  maintain  the  fran- 


208    JOHN  CALVIN  AND  THE  GENEVAN  REFORMATION. 

cliises  and  customs  of  the  citizens.  The  counts  held  the 
castle  on  the  Isle  of  the  Rhone.  Toward  the  end  of  the 
thirteenth  century,  this  office  of  Vidame  or  Vice-regent, 
was  transferred  from  them  to  the  Dukes  of  Savoy.  The 
city  for  the  most  part  ruled  itself  after  a  republican  form, 
and  the  Emperors  Frederic  Barbarossa,  Charles  IV., 
and  Sigismund,  as  a  means  of  protecting  it  against  en- 
croachments on  the  part  of  Savoy  and  of  the  counts  of 
Geneva,  recognized  the  place  as  a  city  of  the  Empire. 
Twice  a  year  the  four  syndics  who  practically  managed  the 
government  were  chosen  liy  the  assembly  of  citizens.  At 
the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century,  the  ambitious 
projects  of  the  Vidames  led  the  Genevans  to  look  for  help 
and  support  to  the  Swiss  cantons.  John,  who  became 
Duke  of  Savoy  in  1504,  entered  into  a  struggle,  for  the 
subjugation  of  Geneva,  which  continued  twenty  years. 
Finding  it  impossible  to  secure  his  end  by  artful  negotia- 
tion with  the  citizens,  he,  with  the  assistance  of  Pope 
Leo  X.,  forced  upon  them,  in  1513,  John,  the  Bastard  of 
Savoy,  who  became  bishop  under  the  stipulation  that  he 
would  give  the  control  of  the  city,  as  far  as  civil  affairs 
were  concerned,  into  the  hands  of  the  Duke.  The  citizens, 
under  the  lead  of  Bonivard,  Berthelier,  and  other  patriots, 
made  a  brave  resistance.  The  Duke  acquired  the  mastery, 
and  Berthelier  was  put  to  death.  The  revolution  which 
liberated  the  citv  from  the  tyranny  of  Savoy  and  restored 
its  freedom,  was  achieved  by  the  aid  of  Berne  and  Frei- 
burg. The  Genevans  were  divided  into  two  parties,  the 
Confederates  (Eidgenossen),  who  were  for  striking  hands 
with  the  Swiss,  and  the  Mamelukes,  or  adherents  of  the 
Duke.  The  former  were  successful.  The  office  of  Vi- 
dame was  abolished,  and  civil  and  military  power  passed 
from  the  bishop  into  the  hands  of  the  people  (1533}. 

The  civil  was  followed  by  an  ecclesiastical  revolution. 
Berne  became  Protestant ;  Freiburg  remained  Catholic. 
From  Berne  a  Protestant  influence  was  exerted  in  Gen- 


PROTESTANTISM  ESTABLISHED  IN  GENEVA.      209 

eva.  The  young  people  made  use  of  their  liberty  to  dis- 
regard the  prescriptions  of  the  Church  in  respect  to  ab- 
stinence from  meat  on  fast  days,  and  disputes  arose 
between  the  citizens  and  the  ecclesiastics.  Some  effort 
was  made  to  cprrect  the  dissolute  habits  of  the  priests,  of 
whom  there  were  three  hundred  in  Geneva,  in  order  to 
take  a  potent  weapon  out  of  the  hands  of  the  reformers. 
But  Protestantism,  by  the  efforts  of  Farel  and  other 
preachers,  gained  ground,  until  at  length,  in  1535,  with 
the  aid  of  Berne,  a  second  revolution  took  place,  in  which 
the  bishop  was  expelled,  and  Protestantism  was  estab- 
lished. In  connection  with  this  change,  the  adjacent  ter- 
ritory was  conquered,  and  with  it  the  castles  Avhich  had 
served  as  strongholds  of  the  Duke,  and  as  convenient 
places  of  shelter  for  fugitives,  and  for  the  organization  of 
attacks  upon  the  city.  Geneva  was  reformed,  and  at  the 
same  time  gained  its  independence.1 

The  principal  agent  in  planting  the  new  doctrine  in 
Geneva  had  been  William  Farel,  born  in  1489,  of  a  noble 
family  in  Gap,  in  Dauphine  ;  a  convert  to  Protestantism, 
driven  out  of  France  by  persecution,  and  welcomed  to 
Switzerland  as  one  able  to  preach  to  the  French  popula- 
tion in  their  own  language.  Honest  and  fearless,  but  in- 
temperate in  language  and  conduct,  he  fulminated  against 
the  tenets  and  practices  of  Rome,  in  city  and  country,  in 
the  churches  or  by  the  wayside,  wherever  he  could  find 
an  audience.  Wherever  he  preached  his  stentorian  voice 
rose  above  the  loudest  tumult  that  was  raised  to  drown 
it.  On  one  occasion  he  seized  the  relics  from  the  hand  of 
a  priest  in  a  procession,  and  flung  them  into  an  adjacent 
river.     He  was  frequently  beaten  and  his  life  put  in  immi- 

1  The  revolutions  in  Geneva  and  the  introduction  of  the  Reformation  are  de- 
scribed by  Ruchat,  Histoire  de  la  Reformation  de  la  Suisse,  nouvelle  ed.,  7  vols. 
Nyon,  1835-1838;  also  by  Kampschulte,  Johann  Calvin,  etc.,  vol.  i.;  and  in  great 
detail  by  Merle  D'Aubigne,  History  of  the  Reformation  in  Europe  in  tJte  Time  oj 
Calvin.  See,  also,  Mignet's  Essay  on  Calvinism  in  Geneva;  Memoirs  Hist., 
(3d  ed.,  Paris,  1854). 

14 


210    JOHN  CALVIN  AND  THE  GENEVAN  REFORMATION. 

nent  peril.  He  was  said  to  have  denounced  Erasmus  at 
Basel  as  another  Balaam,  and  Erasmus  repaid  the  compli- 
ment by  describing  him,  in  a  letter,  as  the  most  arrogant, 
abusive,  and  shameless  man  he  had  ever  met  with.1  Yet 
Farel  did  not  limit  himself  to  denunciation.  He  under- 
stood well,  and  knew  how  to  inculcate  eloquently,  the  dis- 
tinctive doctrines  of  the  Protestant  faith.  His  earliest  at- 
tempt in  Geneva  was  in  1532,  immediately  after  the  first 
revolution.  He  was  then  driven  from  the  city,  and  owed 
his  life  to  the  bursting  of  a  gun  that  was  aimed  at  him. 
The  second  time  he  was  more  successful.  The  new  doc- 
trine was  eagerly  heard  and  won  numerous  disciples. 
At  the  political  revolution,  which  expelled  the  bishop, 
the  Protestant  faith  was  adopted  by  the  solemn  act  of  the 
citizens.  The  general  council,  or  the  assembly  of  citizens, 
legalized  the  new  order  of  divine  service,  which  included 
the  administration  of  the  Supper  thrice  in  the  year ; 
abolished  all  the  festivals  except  Sunday,  and  prohibited 
worldly  sports,  such  as  dances  and  masquerades.  The 
citizens  took  an  oath  to  cast  off  the  Romish  doctrine  and 
to  live  according  to  the  rule  of  the  Gospel.  But  signs  of 
disaffection  soon  appeared.  A  large  portion  of  the  in- 
habitants of  this  prosperous,  luxurious,  and  pleasure- 
loving  city,  soon  grew  impatient  of  the  new  restraints 
which  they  had  accepted  in  the  moment  of  exhilaration 
over  their  newly  gained  political  independence.  They 
cried  out  openly  against  the  preachers  and  demanded 
freedom. 

There  is  no  reason  to  doubt  that  the  morals  of  Geneva 
were  in  a  low  state.  The  Savoyards  had  sought  to  secure 
the  adherence  of  the  young  men  by  means  of  dances  and 
convivial  entertainments  ;  and  Berth elier  endeavored  to 
baffle  this  purpose  by  joining  with  them  himself  in  their 
noisy  banquets  and  licentious  amusements.  The  priests 
and  monks,  according  to  trustworthy  contemporary  ac- 

i  Opera,  iii.  823.     Kirchhofer,  Das  Leben  W.  Fareh,  c.  IV. 


FAREL'S  CALL  TO  CALVIN.  211 

counts,  were  exceptionally  profligate.1  The  prostitutes, 
over  whom  there  was  placed  a  queen  who  was  regularly 
sworn  to  the  fulfillment  of  prescribed  functions,  were  far 
from  being  confined  to  the  quarter  of  the  city  which  was 
specially  assigned  to  them.  Gambling-houses  and  wine- 
shops were  scattered  over  the  town.  The  various  motives 
of  opposition  to  the  new  system  were  sufficient  to  de- 
velop a  powerful  party  that  demanded  the  old  customs 
and  the  former  liberty.  They  clamored  for  deliverance 
from  the  yoke  of  the  preachers. 

Geneva  was  in  this  factious,  confused  state  when  Cal- 
vin arrived  there,  and  took  his  lodgings  at  an  inn,  with 
the  intention  of  remaining  only  for  the  night.  In  his 
Preface  to  the  Commentary  on  the  Psalms,  which  con- 
tains the  most  interesting  passages  of  autobiography  that 
we  possess  from  his  pen,  he  gives  an  account  of  his  inter- 
view with  Farel,  to  whom  his  arrival  had  been  reported  by 
his  friend,  Du  Tillet.  Farel  besought  him  to  remain  and 
assist  him  in  his  work.  Calvin  declined,  pleading  his  un- 
willingness to  bind  himself  to  any  one  place,  and  his  desire 
to  prosecute  his  studies.  Seeing  that  his  persuasions  were 
fruitless,  Farel  told  him  that  he  might  put  forward  his 
studies  as  a  pretext,  but  that  the  curse  of  God  would  light 
on  him  if  he  refused  to  engage  in  His  work.  Calvin  often 
refers  to  this  declaration,  uttered  with  the  fervor  of  a 
prophet.  He  says  that  he  was  struck  with  terror,  and 
felt  as  if  the  hand  of  the  Almighty  had  been  stretched 
out  from  heaven  and  laid  upon  him.  He  gave  up  his  op- 
position. "  Farel,"  it  has  been  said,  "  gave  Geneva  to 
the  Reformation,  and  Calvin  to  Geneva."  He  at  once 
began  his  work,  not  taking  the  post  of  a  preacher  at  first, 
but  giving  theological  lectures  of  an  exegetical  sort  in  the 
Church  of  St.  Peter.  He  composed  hastily  a  catechism 
for  the  instruction  of  the  young,  which  he  deemed  a  thing 
essential  in  the  guidance  of  a  church.  A  confession  of 
faith,  drawn  up  by  Farel,  was  presented  to  all  the  people, 

1  Kampschulte,  i.  90  seq. 


212      JOHN   CALVIN   AND   THE   GENEVAN  REFORMATION. 

and  by  them  formally  adopted.  A  body  of  regulations 
relating  to  church  services  and  discipline,  containing  strin- 
gent provisions,  was  likewise  ratified  and  put  in  opera- 
tion. Opposition  to  the  doctrines  and  deviation  from  the 
practices  thus  sanctioned,  were  penal  offenses.  A  hair- 
dresser, for  example,  for  arranging  a  bride's  hair  in  what 
was  deemed  an  unseemly  manner,  was  imprisoned  for  two 
days  ;  and  the  mother,  with  two  female  friends,  who  had 
aided  in  the  process,  suffered  the  same  penalty.  Dancing 
and  card-playing  were  also  punished  by  the  magistrate. 
They  were  not  wrong  in  themselves,  Calvin  said,  but 
they  had  been  so  abused  that  there  was  no  other  course 
but  to  prohibit  them  altogether.  He  who  so  dreaded  a 
tumult,  not  only  had  to  encounter  Anabaptist  fanatics 
who  appeared  in  Geneva,  but  soon  found  himself,  with 
his  associates,  in  conflict  with  the  government,  and  with 
the  majority  of  the  citizens  who  rebelled  against  the  strict- 
mess  of  the  new  regime.1  At  the  head  of  the  party  of  op- 
position, or  of  the  Libertines,  as  they  were  styled  by  the 
supporters  of  Calvin,  were  Amy  Perrin,  Vandel,  and  Jean 
Philippe,  who  had  been  among  the  first  advocates  of  the 
Reformation.  In  their  ranks  were  many  of  the  Confed- 
erates, or  Eidgeyiossen,  who  had  fought  for  the  indepen- 
dence of  the  city.  At  Geneva,  the  baptismal  font,  the 
four  festivals  of  Christmas,  New  Year's  Day,  the  Annun- 
ciation, and  the  Ascension,  and  the  use  of  unleavened 
bread  in  the  Sacrament,  all  of  which  were  retained  in 
Berne,  had  been  discarded.  The  opponents  of  the  new 
system  called  for  the  restoration  of  the  Bernese  cere- 
monies. Finding  themselves  thwarted  by  the  authorities 
in  the  enforcement  of  church  discipline,  on  Easter  Sun- 
day   (1538),  the    ministers,  Calvin,   Farel,  and    Viret, 

1  He  was  compelled,  much  to  his  mortification,  to  withstand  an  attack  of  a 
different  kind  from  another  quarter.  He  was  <  harged  with  Arianism  and  Sabel- 
lianism.  See  Henry,  i.  178  seq.  Calvin  was  cautious  as  to  the  terms  which 
he  used  on  the  subject  of  the  Trinity,  and  did  not  insist  on  the  word  person. 
See  Institutes,  b.  i.  xiii.  5.  For  his  opinion  of  the  Athanasian  creed,  see 
Kampschulte,  i.  297. 


BANISHMENT    OF    THE   PREACHERS.  213 

preached  in  spite  of  the  prohibition  of  the  Syndics,  and 
also  took  the  bold  step  of  refusing  to  administer  the  sacra- 
ment. Thereupon,  by  a  vote  of  the  Council,  which  was 
confirmed  the  next  day  by  the  general  assembly  of  the 
citizens,  they  were  banished  from  the  city.  Failing  in 
their  efforts  to  secure  the  intervention  of  Berne,  and  in 
other  negotiations  having  reference  to  their  restoration, 
they  parted  from  one  another.  Farel  went  to  Neufchatel, 
and  Calvin  found  a  cordial  reception  in  Strasburg.  It 
was  a  general  feeling,  in  which  Calvin  himself  shared, 
that  the  preachers  had  gone  imprudently  far  in  their  re- 
quirements. But  the  joy  of  Calvin  at  being  delivered 
from  the  anxieties  which  he  had  suffered,  and  in  finding 
himself  at  liberty  to  devote  himself  to  his  books,  was 
greater,  he  says,  than  under  the  circumstances  was  be- 
coming. But  soon  he  was  solicited  by.  Bucer  to  take 
charge  of  the  church  of  French  refugees  who  were  at 
Strasburg.  Once  more  he  was  intimidated  by  Bucer 's 
earnest  appeal,  who  reminded  him  of  the  example  of  the 
fugitive  prophet  Jonah.  Though  his  pecuniary  support 
was  small,  so  that  he  was  compelled  to  take  lodgers  and 
even  to  sell  his  books  to  get  the  means  of  living,  he 
was  satisfied  and  happy.  While  at  Strasburg,  he  was 
brought  into  intercourse  with  the  Saxon  theologians  at 
the  religious  conferences  held  between  the  years  1539 
and  1541,  at  Frankfort,  at  Worms,  and  at  Hagenau,  and 
in  connection  with  the  Diet  at  Ratisbon,  where  Contarini 
appeared  as  the  representative  of  the  Pope.  Like  Luther, 
Calvin  had  no  faith  in  the  practicableness  of  a  compromise 
with  the  Catholics,  and  the  negotiations  became  more  and 
more  irksome  to  him.  His  ignorance  of  the  German  lan- 
guage occasioned  him  some  embarrassment.  His  talents 
and  learning  were  fully  recognized  by  the  German  theo- 
logians, and  with  Melancthon  he  formed  a  friendship 
which  continued  with  a  temporary,  partial  interruption, 
until  they  were  separated  by  death.     To  the  compromises 


214      JOHN   CALVIN    AND   THE   GENEVAN   REFORMATION. 

of  the  Leipsic  Interim,  Calvin  was  inflexibly  opposed. 
On  the  great  controverted  point  of  the  Eucharist,  he  and 
Melancthon  were  agreed,  and  the  latter  confided  to  him 
the  anxieties  which  weighed  heavily  upon  him  on  account 
of  the  jealousy  on  the  Lutheran  side,  which  was  awakened 
by  his  change  of  opinion.  With  Luther,  Calvin  never 
came  into  personal  contact ;  but  he  was  delighted  to  hear 
that  the  Saxon  leader  had  read  some  of  his  books  with 
"  singular  satisfaction,"  had  betrayed  no  irritation  at  Ins 
difference  on  the  question  of  the  Supper,  and  had  ex- 
pressed a  high  degree  of  confidence  in  his  ability  to  be  use- 
ful to  the  Church.  He  thought  Luther  a  much  greater  man 
than  Z  whiffle,  but  that  both  were  one-sided  and  too  much 
under  the  sway  of  prejudice  in  their  combat  upon  the 
Eucharist.  He  exclaims  that  he  should  never  cease  to 
revere  Luther,  if  Luther  were  to  call  him  a  devil.1  When 
called  upon  at  a  later  day,  after  the  death  of  Melancthon, 
to  take  the  field  against  bigoted  Lutherans,  he  breaks 
out  with  the  exclamation  :  "  O  Philip  Melancthon,  I  di- 
rect my  words  to  thee  who  now  livest  before  God  with 
Jesus  Christ,  and  there  art  waiting  for  us  till  we  are 
gathered  with  thee  to  that  blessed  rest !  A  hundred 
times  hast  thou  said,  when,  wearied  with  labor  and  op- 
pressed with  anxieties,  thou  hast  laid  thy  head  affection- 
ately upon  my  bosom  :  c  O  that,  O  that  I  might  die  upon 
this  bosom  !  '  But  notwithstanding  their  friendship, 
Melancthon  could  not  be  prevailed  on  to  express  himself 
in  favor  of  Calvin's  doctrine  of  predestination,  though  the 
latter  dedicated  to  him,  in  flattering  terms,  a  treatise  on 
the  subject,  and  by  letters  sought  to  enlist  his  support. 
Calvin  was  bringing  in,  Melancthon  wrote  to  a  friend, 
the  Stoic  doctrine  of  fate.2  When  Bolsec  was  taken  into 
custody  for  vehemently  attacking  this  doctrine  in  public, 
Melancthon  wrote   to  Camerarius  that   they  had    put  a 

l  Henry,  ii.  352.  2  Corp.  Ref.,  vii.  392. 


CALVIN   AT    STBASBURG.  215 

man  in  prison  at  Geneva  for  not  agreeing  with  Zeno.1 
The  relations  of  Calvin  to  the  friends  of  Zwingle  and  to 
the  churches  which  had  been  established  under  his  aus- 
pices, were  for  a  while  unsettled.  Calvin's  Eucharistic 
doctrine  differed  from  that  of  the  Zurich  reformer,  and 
he  was  suspected  of  an  intention  to  introduce  the  Lutheran 
theory.  He  succeeded  in  convincing  them  that  this  sus- 
picion was  groundless,  and  in  bringing  about  a  union 
through  the  acceptance  of  common  formularies.  The  fact 
that  Zwingle  had  rather  professed  the  doctrine  of  predes- 
tination as  a  philosophical  theorem,  than  brought  it  for- 
ward in  popular  teaching,  required  special  exertions  on  the 
part  of  Calvin  to  quiet  the  misgivings  of  the  Swiss  respect- 
ing this  point  also.2  In  this  effort  he  was  likewise  success- 
ful. Yet  Berne,  partly  from  the  disfavor  which  it  felt 
towards  minor  peculiarities  of  the  Genevan  cultus,  but 
chiefly  owing  to  the  disappointment  of  political  schemes, 
never  treated  Calvin  with  entire  confidence  and  friendli- 
ness. 

While  at  Strasburg,  Calvin  was  married  to  the  widow  of 
an  Anabaptist  preacher  whom  he  had  converted.  Several 
previous  attempts  to  negotiate  a  marriage,  in  which  he 
had  proceeded  in  a  quite  business-like  spirit,  with  no  out- 
lay of  sentiment,  had  from  various  causes  proved  abortive. 
The  lady  whom  he  married  appears  to  have  been  a  person 
of  rare  worth,  his  life  with  her  was  one  of  uninterrupted 
harmony  ;  and  when,  nine  years  after  their  marriage,  she 
died,  his  deep  grief  proved  the  tenderness  of  his  attach- 

1  Melancthon  said  that  they  had  revived  the  fatalistic  doctrine  of  Laurentius 
Valla.     This,  also,  was  one  of  the  most  offensive  accusations  of  Bolsec. 

a  Calvin  criticizes  Zwingle's  treatment  of  this  doctrine,  in  a  letter  to  Bullin- 
ger  (Bonnet,  cclxxxix.).  The  lukewarmness  of  the  Swiss  churches  in  the  case 
of  Bolsec  was  very  vexatious  to  Calvin,  as  this  and  other  letters  show.  The 
correspondence  on  this  case  instructively  exhibits  the  unwillingness  of  the 
Zwinglian  churches  to  press  the  doctrine  of  predestination,  as  Calvin  would 
wish.  Their  expressions  of  sympathy  were  very  qualified  and  constrained. 
Bullinger  took  quite  another  tone  in  reference  to  Servetus,  where  the  doctrine  of 
the  Trinity  was  assailed. 


216   JOHN  CALVIN  AND  THE  GENEVAN  REFORMATION. 

ment.  His  only  child,  a  son,  lived  but  a  short  time.  It 
may  be  remarked  here  that  Calvin  was  far  from  being  un- 
susceptible to  friendship.  With  Farel  and  Viret  he  was 
united  in  the  closest  bonds  of  intimacy.  Though  schooled 
to  submission,  when  he  hears  of  the  death  of  one  after 
another  of  his  friends,  he  gives  expression  to  his  sorrow, 
sometimes  in  pathetic  language.  Beza  loved  him  as  a 
father. 

Three  years  after  his  expulsion  he  was  recalled  to 
Geneva  by  the  united  voices  of  the  government  and 
people.  The  distracted  condition  of  the  city  caused  all 
eyes  to  turn  to  him  as  the  only  hope.  Disorder  and  vice 
had  been  on  the  increase.  Scenes  of  licentiousness  and 
violence  were  witnessed  by  day  and  by  night  in  the  streets. 
The  Catholics  were  hoping  to  see  the  old  religion  re- 
stored. There  was  a  prospect  that  Berne  would  find  its 
profit  in  the  anarchical  situation  of  its  neighbor,  and  es- 
tablish its  control  in  Geneva.  Of  the  four  Syndics  who 
had  been  active  in  the  banishment  of  the  preachers,  one 
had  broken  his  neck  by  a  fall  from  a  window,  another 
had  been  executed  for  murder,  and  the  remaining  two 
had  been  banished  on  suspicion  of  treason.  The  con- 
sciences of  many  were  alarmed  at  these  occurrences. 
Meantime  Cardinal  Sadolet,  Bishop  of  Carpentras,  ad- 
dressed to  the  Senate  a  very  persuasive  letter,  free  from 
all  acrimony,  and  couched  in  a  flattering  style,  for  the 
purpose  of  bringing  the  city  back  to  the  fold  of  the 
Catholic  Church.  To  this  document  Calvin  published 
a  masterly  reply,  in  which  he  expressed  his  undying 
interest  in  the  welfare  of  the  Genevan  Church,  and  re- 
viewed the  Protestant  controversy  with  singular  force 
and  clearness.  "  Here  is  a  work,"  said  Luther,  on  read- 
ing it,  "  that  has  hands  and  feet."  The  personal  remin- 
iscences relating  to  his  conversion,  which  are  interwoven, 
make  it,  as  a  contribution  to  his  biography,  only  second 
in  importance  to  the  Preface  to  the  Psalms.       It  made 


CALVIN'S  RETURN  TO  GENEVA.  217 

a  most  favorable  impression  at  Geneva,  and  an  edi- 
tion of  it  was  published  by  the  authorities.  The  city, 
torn  by  faction,  with  a  government  too  weak  to  exercise 
effective  control,  turned  to  the  banished  preacher,  who 
had  never  been  without  a  body  of  warm  adherents,  how- 
ever overborne  in  the  excitement  that  attended  his  expul- 
sion. Here  was  another  instance  in  which  Providence 
seemed  to  interpose  to  baffle  his  cherished  plans,  and  to 
use  him  for  a  purpose  not  his  own.  He  could  not  think 
of  going  back,  without  a  shudder.  The  recollection  of 
his  conflicts  there,  and  of  the  troubles  of  conscience  he 
had  suffered,  was  dreadful  to  him.1  But  he  could  not 
long  withstand  the  unanimous  opinion  of  his  friends  and 
the  earnest  importunities  of  the  Genevan  Senate  and 
people.  To  the  solicitations  of  the  deputies  who  followed 
him  from  Strasburg  to  Worms,  he  answered  more  with 
tears  than  words.  His  consent  was  at  length  obtained, 
and  once  more  he  took  up  his  abode  in  Geneva,  there  to 
live  for  the  remainder  of  his  days. 

Of  the  system  of  ecclesiastical  and  civil  order  which 
was  formed  under  his  influence,  only  the  outlines  can  here 
be  given.  His  idea  was  that  the  Church  should  be  dis- 
tinct from  the  State,  but  that  both  should  be  intimately 
connected  and  mutually  cooperative  for  a  common  end  — 
the  realization  of  the  kingdom  of  God  in  the  lives*  of  the 
people.  The  Church  was  to  infuse  a  religious  spirit  into 
the  State  ;  the  State  was  to  uphold  and  foster  the  inter- 
ests of  the  Church.  For  the  instruction  of  the  people, 
preachers,  whose  qualifications  have  been  put  to  a  thorough 
test,  must  be  appointed,  and  respect  for  them  and  atten- 
tion to  their  ministrations  must  be  enforced  by  law.  So 
the  training  of  the  children  in  the  catechism  is  indis- 
pensable, and  this  must  likewise  be  secured,  if  necessary, 
by  the  intervention  of  the  magistrate.  The  Three  Coun- 
cils, or  Senates,  the  Little  Council,  or  Council  of  Twenty- 

1  See  his  Letters,  Bonnet,  i.  163,  167,  207,  244. 


218   JOHN  CALVIN  AND  THE  GENEVAN  REFORMATION. 

five,  the  Council  of  Sixty,  and  the  Council  of  Two  Hun- 
dred, which  had  existed  before,  were  not  abolished,  but 
their  functions  and  relative  prerogatives  were  materially 
changed.  The  drift  of  all  the  political  changes  was  to 
concentrate  power  in  the  hands  of  the  Little  Council,  and 
to  take  it  away  from  the  other  bodies,  and  especially  from 
the  General  Council,  or  popular  assembly  of  the  citizens. 
Ecclesiastical  discipline  was  in  the  hands  of  the  CON- 
SISTORY, a  body  composed  of  the  preachers,  who  at  first 
were  six  in  number,and  of  twice  as  many  laymen  ;  the  lay- 
men being  nominated  by  the  preachers  and  chosen  an- 
nually by  the  Little  Council,  but  the  General  Council 
having  a  veto  upon  their  appointment.  Calvin  thus  re- 
vived, under  a  peculiar  form,  the  Eldership  in  the  Church. 
It  had  existed,  to  be  sure,  in  some  of  the  Zwinglian 
Churches,  but  not  as  an  effective  organization.  The 
preachers  were  chosen  by  the  ministers  already  in  office  ; 
they  gave  proof  of  their  qualifications  by  publicly  preach- 
ing a  sermon,  at  which  two  members  of  the  Little  Council 
were  present.  If  the  ministers  approved  of  the  learning  of 
the  candidate,  they  presented  him  to  the  Council,  and  his 
election  having  been  sanctioned  by  that  body,  eight  days 
were  given  to  the  people,  in  which  they  might  bring  for- 
ward objections  if  they  had  any,  to  his  appointment.  The 
Consistory  had  jurisdiction  in  matrimonial  causes.  To 
this  body  was  committed  a  moral  censorship  that  ex- 
tended over  the  entire  life  of  every  inhabitant.  It  was 
a  court  before  which  any  one  might  be  summoned,  and 
which  could  not  be  treated  with  contumacy  or  disre- 
spect without  bringing  upon  the  offender  civil  penal- 
ties. The  power  of  excommunication  was  in  its  hands  ; 
and  excommunication,  if  it  continued  beyond  a  cer- 
tain time,  was  likewise  followed  b}^  penal  consequences. 
Though  ostensibly  purely  spiritual  in  its  function,  the 
Consistory  might  hand  over  to  the  magistrate  trans- 
gressors whose  offenses  were  deemed  to  be  grave,  or  who 


THE   GENEVAN   LAWS  219 

refused  to  submit  to  correction.  The  city  was  divided 
into  districts,  and  in  each  of  them  a  preacher  and  elder 
had  superintendence,  the  ordinance  being  that  at  least 
once  in  a  year  every  family  must  be  visited,  and  receive 
such  admonition,  counsel,  or  comfort,  as  its  condition 
might  call  for.  Every  sick  person  was  required  to  send 
for  the  minister.  From  this  vigilant,  stringent,  univer- 
sal supervision  there  was  no  escape.  There  was  no 
respect  for  persons ;  the  high  and  the  low,  the  rich  and 
the  poor,  were  alike  subjected  to  one  inflexible  rule.  In 
the  Consistory,  by  tacit  consent,  Calvin  took  the  post  of 
President.  The  ministers  —  the  Venerable  Company, 
as  they  were  styled  —  met  together  once  a  month  for 
mutual  fraternal  censure.  Candidates  for  the  ministry 
were  examined  and  ordained  by  them.  They  were  to  be 
kept  up  to  a  high  standard  of  professional  qualifications 
and  of  conduct.  Calvin,  it  may  be  observed,  felt  the  im- 
portance of  an  effective  delivery  :  he  speaks  against  the 
reading  of  sermons.1 

In  the  framing  of  the  civil  laws,  Calvin  had  a  controll- 
ing influence.  His  legal  education  qualified  him  for  such 
a  work,  and  so  great  was  the  respect  entertained  for  him 
that  he  was  made,  not  by  any  effort  of  his  own,  the  vir- 
tual legislator  of  the  city.  The  minutest  affairs  engaged 
his  attention.  Regulations  for  the  watching  of  the  gates, 
and  for  the  suppression  of  fires,  are  found  in  his  hand- 
writing. An  examination  of  the  Genevan  code  shows  the 
strong  influence  of  the  Mosaic  legislation  on  Calvin's  con- 
ception of  a  well-ordered  community.  Both  the  special 
statutes  and  the  general  theocratic  character  of  the  He- 
brew commonwealth  were  never  out  of  sight.2  In  all 
points  Calvin  did  not  find  it  practicable  to  conform  to 
his  own  theories.  One  of  his  cardinal  principles  is  that 
to  the  congregation  belongs  the  choice  of  its  religious 
teachers  ;  but  it  was  provided  at  Geneva  that  the  Col- 
1  Henry,  ii.  195.  2  Kainpschulte,  i.  417. 


220   JOHN  CALVIN  AND  THE  GENEVAN  REFORMATION. 

legium,  or  Society  of  Preachers,  should  select  persons  to 
fill  vacancies,  and  to  the  congregation  was  left  only  a 
veto,  which  was  regarded  more  as  a  nominal  than  a  real 
prerogative.  Whatever  may  have  been  the  influence  of 
Calvinism  on  society,  Calvin  himself  was  unfavorable  to 
democracy.1  It  is  remarkable  that  almost  at  the  begin- 
ning of  his  earliest  writing,  the  Commentary  on  Seneca, 
there  is  an  expression  of  contempt  for  the  populace.  His 
experiences  at  Geneva,  and  especially  the  dangers  to 
which  his  civil  as  well  as  ecclesiastical  system  would  be 
liable  if  it  were  at  the  disposal  of  a  popular  assembly, 
confirmed  his  inclination  to  an  aristocratic  or  oligarchic 
constitution. 

Calvin  had  begun,  after  his  return,  with  moderation, 
with  no  manifestation  of  vindictiveness,  and  without  un- 
dertaking to  remove  the  other  preachers  who  had  been  ap- 
pointed by  the  opposite  party  in  his  absence.  But  symp- 
toms of  disaffection  were  not  long  in  appearing.  The 
more  the  new  system  was  developed  in  its  characteristic 
features,  the  more  loud  grew  the  opposition.  Let  us 
glance  at  the  parties  in  this  long  continued  conflict. 
Against  Calvin  were  the  Libertines,  as  they  were  styled. 
They  consisted  of  two  different  classes.  There  were  the 
fanatical  Antinomians,  an  offshoot  from  the  sect  of  the 
Free  Spirit,  who  combined  pantheistic  theology  with  a 
lax  morality,  in  which  the  marriage  relation  was  practi- 
cally subverted  and  a  theory  allied  to  the  modern  "  free 
love "  was  more  or  less  openly  avowed  and  practiced. 
Their  number  was  sufficient  to  form  a  dangerous  faction, 
and  it  appears  to  be  proved  that  among  them  were  per- 
sons in  affluent  circumstances  and  possessed  of  much  in- 
fluence. United  with  the  "  Spirituels,"  as  this  class  of 
Libertines  was  termed,  were  the  Patriots,  as  they  styled 
themselves  ;  those  who  were  for  maintaining  the  demo- 
cratic  constitution,  and   jealous   of    the  Frenchmen   and 

1  For  his  opinion  of  "  the  people,"  see  Kampschulte,  i.  419. 


PARTIES  IN    GENEVA.  221 

other  foreigners  who  had  migrated  in  large  numbers  to 
Geneva,  and  to  whom  the  supporters  of  Calvin  were  for 
giving  the  rights  of  citizens.    The  licentious  free-thinkers, 
the  native  Genevese  of  democratic  proclivities  and  op- 
posed to  the  granting  of  political  power  to  the  immigrants, 
and  the  multitude  who  chafed  under  the  new  restraints 
put  upon  them,  gradually  combined  against  the  new  sys- 
tem and  the  man  who  was  its  principal  author.     On  the 
other  side  were  those  who  preferred  the  order,  indepen- 
dence, morality,  and  temporal  prosperity  which  were  the 
fruit  of  the  new  order  of  things,  and,  in  the  existing  cir- 
cumstances, were  inseparable  from  it,  and  especially  all 
who  thoroughly  accepted  the  Protestant  system  of  doc- 
trine as  expounded  by  Calvin.    In  the  ranks  of  this  party, 
which   maintained   its    ascendency,   though   not   without 
perilous  struggles,  Avere  the  numerous  foreigners,  who  had 
been,  for  the  most  part,  driven  from  their  homes  by  perse- 
cution, and  had  been  drawn  to  Geneva  by  the  presence  of 
Calvin  and  by  the  religious  system  established  there.     On 
a  single  occasion  not  less  than  three  hundred  of  these  were 
naturalized.     That  wide-spread  disaffection  should  exist, 
was  inevitable.     The  attempt  was  made  to  extend  over  a 
city  of  twenty  thousand  inhabitants,  wonted  to  freedom 
and  little  fond  of  restraint,  the  strict  discipline  of  a  Cal- 
vinistic  church.     Not  only  profaneness  and  drunkenness, 
but  recreations  which  had  been  considered  innocent,  and 
divergent  theological  doctrines,  if  the  effort  was  made  to 
disseminate  them,  were    severely   punished.       In    1568, 
under  the  stern  code   which  was  established  under  the 
auspices  of  Calvin,  a  child  was  beheaded  for  striking  its 
father  and  mother.    A  child  sixteen  years  old  for  attempt- 
ing to  strike  its  mother,  was  sentenced  to  death,  but,  on 
account  of   its  youth,   the  sentence  was  commuted,   and 
having  been  publicly  whipped,  with  a  cord  about  its  neck, 
it  was  banished  from  the  city.     In  1565  a  woman  was 
chastised  with  rods  for  singing  secular  songs  to  the  melody 


222   JOHN  CALVIN  AND  THE  GENEVAN  REFORMATION. 

of  the  Psalms.  In  1579  a  cultivated  gentleman  was  im- 
prisoned for  twenty-four  hours  because  he  was  found  read- 
ing Poggio,  and  having  been  compelled  to  burn  the  book, 
he  was  expelled  from  the  city.  Dancing,  and  the  man- 
ufacture or  use  of  cards,  and  of  nine-pins,  brought  down 
upon  the  delinquent  the  vengeance  of  the  laws.  Even 
those  who  looked  upon  a  dance  were  not  exempt  from 
punishment.  The  prevalence  of  gambling  and  the  in- 
decent occurrences  at  balls  furnished  the  ground  for  these 
stringent  enactments.  To  give  the  names  of  Catholic 
saints  to  children  was  a  penal  offense.  In  criminal  pro- 
cesses, torture  was  freely  used,  according  to  the  custom 
of  the  times,  to  elicit  testimony  and  confession  ;  and  death 
by  fire  was  the  penalty  of  heresy.  It  is  no  wonder  that 
the  prisons  became  filled  and  the  executioner  was  kept 
busy.1 

The  suppression  of  outspoken  religious  dissent  by  force 
was  an  inevitable  result  of  the  principles  on  which  the 
Genevan  state  was  established.  The  Reformers  can  never 
be  fairly  judged  unless  it  is  kept  in  mind  that  they  were 
strangers  to  the  limited  idea  of  the  proper  function  of  the 
state,  which  has  come  into  vogue  in  more  recent  times. 
The  ancient  religions  were  all  state  religions.  It  was 
a  universal  conception  that  a  nation,  like  a  family,  must 
profess  but  one  faith,  and  practice  the  same  religious 
rites.  The  toleration  of  the  ancients,  which  has  been 
lauded  by  modern  sceptical  writers,  was  only  such  as 
polytheism  requires.  The  worship  of  a  nation  was  sa- 
cred within  its  territory,  and  among  its  own  people.  But 
to  introduce  foreign  rites,  or  make  proselytes  of  Roman 
citizens,  was  contrary  to  Roman  law,  and  was  severely 
punished.  This  policy  was  conformed  to  the  general 
feeling  of  antiquity.  The  early  Christian  fathers,  as 
Tertullian  and  Cyprian,  speak  against  coercion  in  matters 
of  religion.2     After  the  downfall  of  heathenism,  the  suc- 

1  Kampschulte  (i.  426,  428)  gives  statistics. 

2  The  passages  are  given  in  Limborch,  IJlsioria  Inquisition  is,  i.  ii. 


RELIGIOUS  PERSECUTION.  223 

cessors  of  Constantine  enforced  conformity  to  the  religion 
of  the  Empire  ;  and  Constantine  himself  did  the  same 
within  the  pale  of  the  Christian  Church,  as  is  seen  in  the 
Arian  controversy.  There  was  persecution  both  on  the 
orthodox  and  on  the  Arian  side.  Severe  laws  were  enacted 
against  the  Manichaeans  and  Donatists.  Augustine,  who 
in  his  earlier  writings  had  opposed  the  use  of  force  for  the 
spread  of  truth,  or  the  extirpation  of  error,  altered  his 
views  in  the  Donatist  controversy.  He  would  not  have 
capital  punishment  inflicted,  but  would  confine  the  penal- 
ties of  heresy  to  imprisonment  or  banishment,  the  confis- 
cation of  goods  and  civil  disabilities.  Theodosius  has  the 
unenviable  distinction  of  incorporating  the  theory  of  per- 
secution in  an  elaborate  code,  which  threatened  death  to 
heretics  ;  and  in  his  reign  the  term  Inquisitors  of  the 
faith  first  appears.1  The  feeling  of  the  necessity  of  uni- 
formity in  religious  belief  and  worship,  and  of  the  obliga- 
tion of  rulers  to  punish  and  to  exterminate  infidelity  and 
heresy  within  their  dominions,  was  universal  in  the  Mid- 
dle Ages.  Innocent  III.  enforced  this  obligation  upon 
princes  under  the  threat  of  excommunication,  and  of  the 
forfeiture  of  their  crowns  and  dominions.  In  1208  lie 
established  the  Inquisition.  It  is  true  that  the  Church 
kept  up  the  custom  of  asking  the  magistrate  to  spare  the 
life  of  the  condemned  heretic ;  but  it  was  an  empty  for- 
mality. The  Church  inculcated  the  lawfulness  of  the 
severest  punishments  in  such  cases.  Leo  X.,  in  his  Bull 
against  Luther,  in  1520,  explicitly  condemns  the  proposi- 
tion :  "  Ha3reticos  coinburere  est  contra  voluntatem  Spiri- 
tus."  No  historical  student  needs  to  be  told  what  an  in- 
calculable amount  of  evil  has  been  wrought  by  Catholics 
and  by  Protestants,  from  a  mistaken  belief  in  the  perpetual 
validity  of  the  Mosaic  civil  legislation,  and  from  a  con- 

1  For  the  history  of  persecution,  see  Limhorch,  I.  iii;  Gibbon,  ch.  xxvii. ;  the 
urt.  "  Hteresie  "  in  Herzog,  Rcal-Encycl.  d.  TkeoL;  Lecky,  History  of  national- 
ism in  Europe,  ch.  iv.  (ii.). 


224   JOHN  CALVIN  AND  THE  GENEVAN  REFORMATION. 

founding  of  the  spirit  of  the  old  dispensation  with  that  of 
the  new  —  an  overlooking  of  the  progressive,  character  of 
Divine  Revelation.  The  Reformers  held  that  offenses 
against  the  first  table  of  the  law,  not  less  than  the  second, 
fall  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  magistrate.  To  protect 
and  foster  pure  religion,  and  to  put  down  false  religion, 
was  that  part  of  his  office  to  which  he  was  most  sacredly 
bound.  Occasional  utterances,  it  is  true,  which  seem 
harbingers  of  a  better  day,  fell  from  the  lips  of  Prot- 
estant leaders.  Zwingle  was  not  disposed  to  persecution. 
Luther  said,  in  reference  to  the  prohibition  of  his  version 
of  the  New  Testament :  "  Over  the  souls  of  men,  God 
can  and  will  have  no  one  rule,  save  Himself  alone  ;  "  and 
in  his  book  against  the  Anabaptists,  he  says  :  "  It  is  not 
right  that  they  should  so  shockingly  murder,  burn,  and 
cruelly  slay  such  wretched  people  ;  they  should  let  every 
one  believe  what  he  will ;  with  the  Scripture  and  God's 
Word,  they  should  check  and  withstand  them ;  with  fire 
they  will  accomplish  little.  The  executioners  on  this 
plan  would  be  the  most  learned  doctors."  l  But  these 
noble  words  rather  express  the  dictates  of  Luther's  hu- 
mane impulses  than  definite  principles  by  which  he  would 
consistently  abide.  It  is  often  charged  upon  the  Protes- 
tants themselves  as  a  flagrant  inconsistency  that  whilst 
they  were  persecuted  themselves,  they  were  willing,  and 
sometimes  eager,  to  persecute  others.  So  far  is  Calvin 
from  being  impressed  with  this  incongruity,  that  he  writes: 
"  Seeing  that  the  defenders  of  the  Papacy  are  so  bitter 
and  bold  in  behalf  of  their  superstitions,  that  in  their 
atrocious  fury  they  shed  the  blood  of  the  innocent,  it 
should  shame  Christian  magistrates  that  in  the  protection 
of  certain  truth,  they  are  entirely  destitute  of  spirit." 2 
The  repressive  measures  of  Catholic  rulers  were  an  exam- 
ple for  Protestant  rulers  to  emulate  !  There  were  voices 
occasionally  raised  in  favor  of  toleration.     The  case  of 

1  Walch,  x.  461,  374.  2  Bonnet,  letter  cccxxv. 


CONTESTS   OF  CALVIN.  225 

Servetus,  probably,  tended  more  than  any  single  event  to 
produce  wiser  and  more  charitable  views  on  this  subject. 
Free-thinkers,  who  had  no  convictions  for  which  they 
would  die  themselves  —  the  apostles  of  indifference  — 
were  naturally  early  in  the  field  in  favor  of  the  rights  of 
opinion.  But  religious  toleration  could  never  obtain  a 
general  sway,  until  the  limitations  of  human  responsi- 
bility, and  the  limited  function  to  which  the  State  is 
properly  restricted,  were  better  understood.  A  more  en- 
lightened charity,  which  makes  larger  allowance  for  diver- 
sities of  intellectual  view,  is  doubtless  a  powerful  auxil- 
iary in  effecting  this  salutary  change.1 

The  conflicts  through  which  Calvin  had  to  pass  in  up- 
holding and  firmly  establishing  the  Genevan  theocracy, 
would  have  broken  down  any  other  than  a  man  of  iron. 
Personal  indignities  were  heaped  upon  him.  The  dogs 
in  the  street  were  named  after  him.  Every  device  was 
undertaken  in  order  to  intimidate  him.  As  he  sat  at  his 
study  table  late  at  night,  a  gun  would  be  discharged  under 
his  window.  In  one  night  fifty  shots  were  fired  before 
his  house.  On  one  occasion  he  walked  into  the  midst  of 
an  excited  mob  and  offered  his  breast  to  their  daggers. 

The  case  of  Bolsec,  who  was  arrested  and  banished  for 
violently  attacking  the  preachers  on  the  subject  of  pre- 
destination, has  already  been   referred  to.     Another   in- 

1  Lecky,  in  common  with  other  writers  at  the  present  day,  makes  persecution 
the  necessary  result  of  undoubting  convictions  on  the  subject  of  religion,  coupled 
with  a  belief  that  moral  obliquity  is  involved  in  holding  opposite  views.  These 
writers  would  make  scepticism  essential  to  the  exercise  of  toleration.  See 
Lecky's  quotation  from  C.  J.  Fox  (vol.  ii.  p.  20).  But  if  this  be  true,  how  shal] 
we  account  for  the  opposition  to  the  spirit  of  persecution,  which  these  very  writ- 
ers attribute  to  the  founders  of  Christianity  —  to  Christ  and  the  Apostles  V  Much 
that  is  ascribed  to  the  influence  of  "  Rationalism  "  is  really  due  to  the  increas- 
ing power  of  Christianity,  and  to  the  better  understanding  of  its  precepts,  and 
of  the  limits  of  the  responsibility  of  society  for  the  opinions  and  character  of  its 
members.  There  are  two  antidotes  to  uncharitableness  and  narrowness.  The 
one  is  liberal  culture;  the  other  is  that  high  degree  of  religion  — of  charity  — 
which  is  delineated  by  St.  Paul  in  1  Corinthians  xiii.  Either  of  these  remedies 
against  intolerance  is  consistent  with  a  living,  earnest  faith. 
15 


226   JOHN  CALVIN  AND  THE  GENEVAN  REFORMATION. 

stance  somewhat  similar  was  the  controversy  with  Cas- 
tellio.  Castellio  was  a  highly  cultivated  scholar  whom 
Calvin  had  brought  from  Strasburg  to  take  charge  of  the 
Geneva  school.  He  was  desirous  of  becoming  a  minister, 
but  Calvin  objected  on  account  of  his  views  on  the  Song 
of  Solomon,  which  he  thought  should  be  struck  from  the 
canon,  and  his  opposition  to  the  passage  of  the  creed  re- 
specting the  descent  of  Christ  into  hell.  The  result  was 
that  Castellio  at  length  made  a  public  attack  upon  the 
preachers,  charging  them  with  intolerance,  and  less  justly, 
with  other  grave  faults.  He  accused  Calvin  of  a  love  of 
power.  Whether  the  charge  were  true,  Calvin  wrote  to 
Farel,  he  was  willing  to  leave  it  to  God  to  judge.  The 
result  was  that  Castellio,  who  had  many  points  of  excel- 
lence, was  expelled  from  Geneva,  and  afterwards  prose- 
cuted in  print  a  heated  controversy  with  Calvin  and  Beza.1 
But  these  and  all  other  instances  of  alleged  persecution  are 
overshadowed  by  the  more  notorious  case  of  Servetus. 
Michael  Servetus  was  born  at  Villeneuve,  in  Spain,  in 
1509,  and  was  therefore  of  the  same  age  as  Calvin.  Ac- 
cording to  his  own  statement,  he  was  attached,  for  a 
while,  when  a  youth,  to  the  service  of  Quintana,  the  chap- 
lain of  Charles  V.,  and  witnessed  the  stately  ceremonies 
at  the  coronation  of  the  Emperor  at  Bologna.  He  was 
sent  by  his  father  to  Toulouse  to  study  law ;  but  his  mind 
turned  to  theological  speculation,  and,  in  connection  with 
other  scholars  of  his  acquaintance,  he  read  the  Scriptures 
and  the  Fathers,  especially  the  writers  of  the  ante-Nicene 
period.  He  also  delved  in  judicial  astrology,  in  which 
he  was  a  believer.  Of  an  original,  inquisitive  mind,  ad- 
venturous and  independent  in  his  thinking,  he  convinced 

1  When  Calvin  was  excited,  he  was  a  match  for  Luther  in  the  use  of  vituper- 
ative epithets.  The  opprobrious  names  which  he  applies  to  Castellio  the  latter 
collects  in  a  long  list.  The  origin  of  Calvin's  disputes  with  Castellio  —Calvin's 
dissatisfaction  with  his  translation  of  the  New  Testament  — is  given  in  the  letter 
to  Viret,  Bonnet,  i.  326.  See,  also,  i.  316,  379,  392.  A  fair  account  of  the  con- 
troversy is  given  by  Uyer,  i.  169  seq. 


THE  CAREER  OF  SERVETUS.  227 

himself  of  the  groundlessness  of  the  claims  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church  ;  but  he  was  not  satisfied  with  the  Prot- 
estant theology,  especially  on  the  subject  of  the  Trinity. 
Going  to  Basel  he  formed  an  acquaintance  with  CEcolam- 
padius,  who  expressed  a  strong  dislike  of  his  notions. 
Zwingle,  whom  CEcolampadius  consulted,  said  that  such 
notions  would  subvert  the  Christian  religion,  but  seems  to 
have  discountenanced  a  resort  to  force  for  the  suppression 
of  them.1  The  book  of  Servetus  on  the  u  Errors  of  the 
Trinity, "  appeared  in  1531.  In  it  he  defended  a  view 
closely  allied  to  the  Sabellian  theory,  and  an  idea  of  the 
incarnation  in  which  the  common  belief  of  two  natures  in 
Christ  had  no  place.  He  endeavored  to  draw  Calvin  into 
a  correspondence,  but  became  angry  at  the  manner  in 
which  Calvin  treated  him  and  his  speculations.  He  wrote 
Calvin  a  number  of  letters  well  stored  with  invectives 
against  the  prevalent  conceptions  of  Christian  doctrine, 
as  well  as  against  Calvin  personally.  At  length  he  re- 
turned to  Paris,  where  he  had  previously  studied  at  the 
same  time  that  Calvin  was  there,  and  under  the  assumed 
name  of  Villanovus,  derived  from  the  village  where  he 
was  born,  he  prosecuted  his  studies  in  natural  science  and 
medicine,  for  which  he  had  a  remarkable  aptitude.  He 
divined  the  true  method  of  the  circulation  of  the  blood, 
almost  anticipating  the  later  discovery  of  Harvey.2  As 
a  practitioner  of  medicine  he  stood  in  high  repute.  After 
repeatedly  changing  his  name  and  residence,  he  finally 
took  up  his  abode  in  Vienne,  in  the  south  of  France, 
where  he  was  hospitably  received  by  the  Archbishop,  and 
long  lived  in  the  lucrative  practice  of  his  profession.  Dur- 
ing all  this  time,  in  the  aggregate  more  than  twenty 
years,  he  conformed  outwardly  to  the  Catholic  Church, 
attended  mass,  and  was  not  suspected  of  heresy.  Here 
he  finished  a  book,  not  less  obnoxious  than  the  first,  en- 

1  Mosheim,  Geschichte  Servets,  p.  17. 

2  Henry,  Libtn  Calvins,  iii.  Beil.  59. 


228      JOHN   CALVIN  AND   THE   GENEVAN  REFORMATION. 

titled  "  The  Restoration  of  Christianity  "  —  Christian- 
ismi  Restitutio  —  and  not  being  able  to  get  it  printed  in 
Basel,  he  bribed  the  Archbishop's  own  printer  and  two  of 
his  assistants,  to  print  it  for  him  secretly.  He  superin- 
tended the  press,  and  sent  copies  of  the  anonymous  book 
to  various  places  for  sale,  not  forgetting  to  despatch  one 
or  more  copies  as  presents  to  the  Genevan  theologians.  In 
this  work  his  conception  of  the  person  of  Christ  is  some- 
what modified  ;  its  doctrine  makes  a  nearer  approach  to 
Pantheistic  theories.1  The  two  grand  hindrances  in  the 
way  of  the  spread  of  Christianity  were  declared  to  be  the 
doctrine  of  the  Trinity  and  that  of  Infant  Baptism.  The 
manuscript  of  the  first  draft  of  the  work  had  been  sent  to 
Calvin  at  an  earlier  day.  A  French  refugee  residing  at 
Geneva,  by  the  name  of  Guillaume  Trie,  in  a  letter  to  An- 
toine  Arneys,  a  Roman  Catholic  relative  at  Lyons,  made 
reference  to  Servetus  as  the  author  of  this  pestiferous 
book,  and  as,  nevertheless,  enjoying  immunity  in  a 
Church  that  pretended  to  be  zealous  for  the  extirpation 
of  heresy.  Arneys  carried  the  information  to  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Lyons.  Servetus  was  arrested  ;  and  an  ecclesi- 
astical court  was  constituted  for  his  trial.  Some  pages  of 
an  annotated  copy  of  the  "  Institutes,"  which  he  had  long 
before  sent  to  Calvin,  and  a  parcel  of  his  letters  were 
transmitted  from  Geneva  by  Trie,  for  the  purpose  of  es- 
tablishing the  charge  which  he  had  indirectly  caused  to 
be  made.  Trie  prevailed  on  Calvin  to  grant  him  this 
additional  evidence.  Servetus,  and  the  printers  with  him, 
had  sworn  that  they  knew  nothing  of  the  book  which 
they  had  published.  Servetus  also  swore  that  he  was 
not  the  person  who  had  written  the  book  on  the  "  Errors 
of  the  Trinity."     But  when  the  Genevan  documents  ar- 

1  "  Es  gibtkaum  ein  anderes  System,  das  so  sehr  wie  das  Servets  als  ein  panthe- 
istiches  bezeichnet  zu  werden  verdient  in  dem  gewohnlich  mit  diesem  Worte 
verbundcnen  Sinn."  — Baur,  Die  chrisll.  Lehre  v.  d.  Dreieinffkeit,  etc.,  ill.  i.  2, 
p.  86. 


SERVETUS   AT    GENEVA.  229 

rived,  he  saw  that  conviction  was  inevitable,  and  contrived 
to  escape  from  his  jailer.  The  Vienne  court  had  to  con- 
tent itself  with  seizing  his  property  and  burning  his 
effigy.  We  know  Calvin's  disposition  towards  him ;  for 
in  a  letter  to  Farel  he  had  once  said  that  if  his  authority 
was  of  any  avail,  in  case  Servetus  were  to  come  to 
Geneva,  he  should  not  go  away  alive.1 

Servetus,  having  escaped  from  Vienne,  after  a  few 
months  actually  appeared  in  Geneva  and  took  lodgings  in 
an  inn  near  one  of  the  gates.  He  had  been  there  for  a 
month  without  being  recognized,when  Calvin  was  informed 
of  his  presence,  and  procured  his  arrest.  A  scribe  of  Cal- 
vin made  the  accusation.  Ultimately,  Calvin  and  all  the 
other  preachers  were  brought  face  to  face  with  the  pris- 
oner, before  the  Senate  which  was  to  sit  in  judgment  upon 
him.  In  the  subsequent  proceedings  he  defended  his 
theological  opinions  with  much  acuteness,  but  with  a 
strange  outpouring  of  violent  denunciation.2  His  propo- 
sitions relative  to  the  participation  of  all  things  in  the 
Deity,  and  the  identity  of  the  world  with  God,  although 
he  made  the  embodiment  of  the  primordial  essence  in 
the  world  to  spring  from  a  volition,  were  couched  in 
phraseology  which  made  them  seem  to  his  accusers  in  the 
highest  degree  dangerous  and  repulsive.3  He  caricatured 
the  Church  doctrine  of  the  Trinity  by  the  most  offensive 
comparisons.  His  ideas  were  out  of  relation  to  the  exist- 
ing philosophy  and  theology,  and  were  an  anticipation  of 
phases  of  speculation  of  a  much  later  date.    His  physical 

1  February  13,  1546.    Bonnet,  ii.  19. 

2  Dyer,  a  writer  not  at  all  disposed  to  excuse  Calvin,  says  (p.  337)  of  the  in- 
dorsements made  by  Servetus  on  the  list  of  thirty -eight  heretical  propositions 
which  Calvin  had  extracted  from  his  writings  :  "  The  replies  of  Servetus  to 
this  document  are  very  insolent,  and  seem  almost  like  the  productions  of  a  mad- 
man." These  replies  may  be  read  in  the  new  edition  of  Calvin's  works,  viii. 
519  seq. 

3  "  Man  kann  sich  daher  nicht  wundern,  dass  auch  die  Gegner  an  diesem  so 
offen'vor  Augen  liegenden  Character  des  Systems  den  grbssten  Anstoss  nah- 
men."  —  Baur,  Ibid.,  p.  103. 


230      JOHN  CALVIN   AND   THE   GENEVAN   REFORMATION. 

theories  were  interwoven  with  his  theology.  His  maxim, 
that  "  no  force  acts  except  by  contact,"  was  connected 
with  his  doctrine  of  the  substantial  communication  of  the 
Deity  to  all  things ;  and  he  told  Calvin  contemptuously 
that  if  he  only  understood  natural  science,  he  could  com- 
prehend this  subject.  While  he  was  undergoing  his 
trial,  a  messenger  arrived  from  the  tribunal  at  Vienne  to 
demand  their  escaped  prisoner.  There  was  no  safety  for 
him  with  Papist  or  Protestant !  He  chose  to  remain  and 
take  his  chance  where  he  was.  It  is  not  improbable  that 
his  boldness  and  vehemence  were  inspired  by  suggestions 
from  the  Libertine  party,  and  that  he  felt  that  they  stood 
at  his  back.1  Calvin  was  far  from  being  omnipotent  in 
Geneva  at  this  time.  He  was,  in  fact,  in  the  very  crisis 
of  his  conflict  with  his  adversaries.  It  was  on  the  27th 
of  August,  1553,  that  he  denounced  Servetus  from  the 
pulpit;  he  had  been  arrested  on  the  13th  of  the  same 
month.  On  the  3d  of  September,  Calvin  refused  the 
Lord's  Supper  to  the  younger  Berthelier,  a  leader  of  the 
Libertines.  So  strong  was  this  party,  that  had  the  cause 
of  Servetus  been  carried,  as  was  attempted,  to  the  Council 
of  One  Hundred,  Servetus  would  have  escaped.  He 
was  extremely  bold,  and  demanded  that  Calvin  should  be 
banished  for  bringing  a  malicious  accusation,  and  that  his 
property  should  be  handed  over  to  him.  Contrary  to  his 
expectation,  he  was  condemned.  He  called  Calvin  to  his 
prison,  and  asked  pardon  for  his  personal  treatment  of 
him  ;  but  all  attempts  to  extort  from  him  a  retraction 
of  his  doctrines,  whether  made  by  Calvin  or  by  Farel 
before  the  execution  of  the  sentence,  were  ineffectual. 
He  adhered  to  his  opinions  with  heroic  constancy,  and 
was  burned  at  the  stake  on  the  morning  of  the  27th  of 
October,  1553. 

1  Guizot  expresses  the  decided  opinion  that  Servetus  went  to  Geneva  relying 
on  the  Libertines,  and  that  they  expected  support  from  him.  St.  Louistand 
Calvin,  p.  313.  But  there  is  no  good  evidence  of  any  previous  understanding 
between  him  and  them. 


CALVIN   AND   SERVETUS.  231 

On  the  one  hand,  it  is  not  true  that  Calvin  arranged 
that  the  mode  of  his  death  should  be  needlessly  painful. 
He  made  the  attempt  to  have  it  mitigated  ;  probably 
that  the  sword  might  be  used  instead  of  the  fagot.  And 
notwithstanding  the  previous  threat,  to  which  reference 
has  been  made,  it  is  likely  that  he  expected,  and  he  had 
reason  to  expect,  that  Servetus  would  recant.  On  the 
other  hand,  it  cannot  be  denied  that  he  yielded  to  the 
solicitation  of  Trie,  and  supplied  the  documentary  evi- 
dence which  went  from  Geneva  to  the  court  at  Vienne. 
He  caused  the  arrest  of  Servetus  at  Geneva,  and  it  is  a 
violation  of  historical  truth  to  say  that  he  did  not  desire 
his  execution.1  The  infliction  of  capital  punishment  on 
one  whom  he  considered  a  blasphemer,  as  well  as  an  as- 
sailant of  the  fundamental  truths  of  Christianity,  was  in 
his  judgment  right.  In  the  defense  of  the  doctrine  of 
the  Trinity  against  Servetus,  which  Calvin  published  in 
1554,  he  enters  into  a  formal  argument  in  favor  of  the 
capital  punishment  of  contumacious  heretics  by  the  civil 
authority.  He  thinks  that  if  Roman  Catholic  rulers  slay 
the  innocent,  this  is  no  reason  why  better  and  more  en- 
lightened magistrates  should  spare  the  guilty.  The  whole 
discussion  proves  that  the  arguments  for  toleration,  both 
from  Scripture  and  reason,  were  not  unknown  to  him,  for 
he  tries  to  answer  them.  He  makes  his  appeal,  in  great 
part,  to  the  Old  Testament.  Guizot  thus  pronounces  upon 
the  case  of  Servetus  and  Calvin  :  "  It  was  their  tragical 
destiny  to  enter  into  mortal  combat  as  the  champions  of 
two  great  causes.  It  is  my  profound  conviction  that 
Calvin's  cause  was  the  good  one  ;  that  it  was  the  cause 
of    morality,    of    social    order,   of   civilization.     Servetus 

i  We  have  already  cited  his  letter  to  Farel,  of  February  13, 1546.  After  the  ar- 
rest of  Servetus,  Calvin  wrote  to  Farel  (August  20,  1553),  saying:  "I  hope 
(spero)  the  sentence  will  at  least  be  capital;  but  desire  the  atrocity  of  the  punish- 
ment to  be  abated."  He  wished  him  to  be  put  to  death,  but  not  by  lire.  Calvin 
published  an  elaborate  work  in  defense  of  the  proceeding.  Henry  has  mis- 
translated the  above  passage :  see  Dyer,  Life  of  Calvin,  p.  339. 


232      JOHN   CALVIN   AND   THE   GENEVAN   REFORMATION. 

was  the  representative  of  a  system  false  in  itself,  super- 
ficial under  the  pretense  of  science,  and  destructive  alike 
of  social  dignity  in  the  individual,  and  of  moral  order  in 
human  society.  In  their  disastrous  encounter,  Calvin 
was  conscientiously  faithful  to  what  he  believed  to  be 
truth  and  duty ;  but  he  was  hard,  much  more  influenced 
by  violent  animosity  than  he  imagined,  and  devoid  alike 
of  sympathy  and  generosity.  Servetus  was  sincere  and 
resolute  in  his  conviction,  but  he  was  a  frivolous,  pre- 
sumptuous, vain,  and  envious  man,  capable,  in  time  of 
need,  of  resorting  to  artifice  and  untruth.  Servetus  ob- 
tained the  honor  of  being  one  of  the  few  martyrs  to  in- 
tellectual liberty ;  whilst  Calvin,  who  was  undoubtedly 
one  of  those  who  did  most  toward  the  establishment  of 
religious  liberty,  had  the  misfortune  to  ignore  his  adver- 
sary's right  to  liberty  of  belief."1  The  forbearance  of 
Calvin  toward  Laglius  Socinus  has  been  sometimes  con- 
sidered a  proof  that  he  was  actuated  by  personal  .vindic- 
tiveness  in  relation  to  Servetus.  But  Calvin,  widely  as 
he  might  differ  from  Socinus,  recognized  in  him  a  sobriety, 
a  moral  respectability,  which  he  wholly  missed  in  the 
restless,  visionary,  passionate  physician  of  Villeneuve. 
It  was  the  diversity  of  character  in  the  two  men,  and  the 
different  methods  which  they  adopted  to  spread  their 
doctrines,  much  more  than  any  resentment  which  Calvin 
might  feel  in  consequence  of  the  attacks  of  Servetus  — 
whom  he  looked  down  upon  as  a  wild,  mischievous 
dreamer  —  that  made  him  so  courteous  and  lenient  to 
Socinus. 

The  execution  of  Servetus,  with  a  few  notable  excep- 
tions, was  approved  by  the  Christian  world.  Bullinger, 
the  friend  and  successor  of  Zwingle,  justified  it.  Even 
Melancthon  gave  it  his  sanction.  The  rise  of  infidel  and 
fanatical  sects  in  the  path  of  the  Reformation,  as  an  inci- 
dental consequence  of  the  movement,  and  the  disposition 

1  St.  Louis  ami  Calvin,  c.  xix.  p.  32G. 


CONFLICTS   OF   CALVIN.  233 

of  opponents  to  identify  it  with  these  manifestations, 
made  the  Protestants  the  more  solicitous  to  demonstrate 
their  hostility  to  them,  and  their  fidelity  to  the  principal 
articles  of  the  Christian  faith.  In  rejecting  infant  bap- 
tism, and  in  the  terms  of  his  proposition  respecting  the 
identity  of  the  world  with  God,  Servetus  was  at  one  with 
the  Libertine  free-thinkers.  "  He  held  with  the  Ana- 
baptists," said  the  Genevan  Senate,  and  must  suffer  ; :  al- 
though Servetus  asserted  that  he  had  always  condemned 
the  opposition  made  by  the  Anabaptists  to  the  civil 
magistrate. 

The  conflict  with  the  Libertine  faction  did  not  end  with 
the  condemnation  of  Servetus.  The  courage  and  determi- 
nation of  a  Hildebrand  were  required  to  stem  the  opposi- 
tion which  Calvin  had  to  meet.  An  attempt  to  overthrow 
the  power  of  the  Consistory,  by  interposing  the  authority 
of  the  Senate,  was  only  baffled  by  his  resolute  refusal 
to  admit  to  the  sacrament  persons  judged  to  be  unworthy. 
Finally,  the  efforts  of  the  Libertine  party  culminated 
in  1555,  in  an  armed  conspiracy  under  the  lead  of  Perrin, 
who  had  held  the  highest  offices  in  the  city  ;  and  the 
complete  overthrow  of  this  insurrection  was  the  death- 
blow of  the  party.  In  the  preface  to  the  Psalms,  Calvin 
makes  a  pathetic  reference  to  the  stormy  scenes  which  he 
—  by  nature  "  unwarlike  and  timorous  "  —  had  been 
compelled  to  pass  through  ;  to  the  sorrow  which  he  felt 
in  the  destruction  of  those  whom  he  would  have  pre- 
ferred to  save  ;  and  to  the  multiplied  calumnies  that  his 
enemies  persistently  heaped  upon  him.2     "  To  my  power," 

1  Upon  the  life  and  opinions  of  Servetus,  and  the  circumstances  of  his  trial 
and  death,  see  Mosheim,  Ketzergeschichte,  ii.  (1748),  and  Neue  Nachrichten  von 
don  beruhmten  span.  Arzte,  M.  Serveto  (1750);  Trechsel,  Die  Anti-trinitarier, 
and  art.  "  Servet "  in  Herzog's  Real- Km-. ;  1  >yer,  Life  of  Calvin,  chs.  ix.  and  x. ; 
Henry,  Leben  Calvins,  ill.  i. ;  Baur,  Die  christl.  Lehre  von  d.  Dreieinigh  it,  etc., 
t.  iii.  p.  54  seq.:  Dorner,  Entwicklungsch.  d.  Lehre  ran  d.  Person  Christ!,  ii.  049 
seq.  The  letters  of  Servetus'to  Calvin,  together  with  the  Minutes  of  his  Trial 
at  Geneva,  are  given  in  the  new  edition  of  the  Works  of  Calvin  (by  Baum, 
Cunitz,  and  Reuss),  vol.  viii.  (1870). 

2  Kampschulte  states  that  when  the  pestilence  raged  at  Geneva  in  1543,  Calvin 


234   JOHN  CALVIN  AND  THE  GENEVAN  REFORMATION. 

he  says,  "  which  they  envy  —  O  that  they  were  the  suc- 
cessors !  "  "If  I  cannot  persuade  them  while  I  am 
alive  that  I  am  not  avaricious,  my  death,  at  least,  will 
convince  them  of  it."  His  entire  property  after  his  death 
amounted  to  less  than  two  hundred  dollars  ! 

At  the  same  time  that  he  was  waging  this  domestic 
contest,  he  was  exerting  a  vast  influence  as  a  religious 
teacher  within  the  city  and  over  all  Europe.  Besides 
preaching  every  day  of  each  alternate  week,  he  gave 
weekly  three  theological  lectures.  His  memory  was  so 
extensive  that  if  he  had  once  seen  a  person,  he  recognized 
him  immediately  years  afterwards,  and  if  interrupted 
while  dictating,  he  could  resume  his  task,  after  an  inter- 
val of  hours,  at  the  point  where  he  had  left  it,  without 
aid  from  his  amanuensis.  Hence,  he  was  able  to  dis- 
course, even  upon  the  prophets,  where  numerous  histori- 
cal references  were  involved,  without  the  aid  of  a  scrap  of 
paper,  and  with  nothing  before  him  but  the  text.  Being 
troubled  with  asthma,  he  spoke  slowly,  so  that  his  lec- 
tures, as  well  as  many  of  his  sermons,  were  taken  down, 
word  for  word,  as  they  were  delivered.  Hundreds  of 
auditors  from  the  various  countries  of  Europe  flocked  to 
Geneva  to  listen  to  his  instructions.  Protestant  exiles  in 
great  numbers,  many  of  whom  were  men  of  influence,  of 
whom  Knox  was  one,  found  a  refuge  there,  and  went  back 
to  their  homes  bearing  the  impress  which  he  had  stamped 
upon  them.  Under  Calvin's  influence,  Geneva  became  to 
the  Romanic,  what  Wittenberg  was  to  the  Lutheran 
nations.  The  school  of  which  Castellio  was  the  head  did 
not  flourish  after  he  left  it ;  but,  in  1558,  a  gymnasium 
was  established,  and  in  the  following  year  the  Academy 

declined,  from  fear,  to  go  to  the  pest-house  to  minister  to  the  sick  and  dying. 
[Jokamn  Calvin,  i.  484.)  lint  Beza,  than  whom  there  is  no  better  witness,  states 
that  Calvin  offered  himself  for  this  service,  but  the  Senate  would  not  permit 
him  to  undertake  it:  Vita  Calvini,  i.\.  For  other' contemporary  proof,  see  Bon- 
net. Letters  of  Calvin,  i.  334,  n.  •'!.  See  also  Henry,  ii.  43.  But  Kampschulte 
himself  quotes  the  act  of  the  Council,  withholding  Calvin  from  this  service, 
which  involved  almost  certain  death  (p.  486,  n.  2). 


LAST   DAYS   OF   CALVIN.  235 

of  Theology  was  founded,  and  Beza  placed  over  it.  The 
writings  of  Calvin  were  circulated  in  every  country  of 
Europe.  By  his  correspondence,  moreover,  his  powerful 
influence  was  brought  to  bear  directly  upon  the  leaders  of 
the  reformatory  movement  everywhere.  In  England  and 
France,  in  Scotland  and  Poland  and  Italy,  on  the  roll  of 
his  correspondents  were  princes  and  nobles,  as  well  as 
theologians.  His  counsels  were  called  for  and  prized  in 
matters  of  critical  importance.  He  writes  to  Edward  VI. 
and  Elizabeth,  to  Somerset  and  Cranmer.  But  especially 
in  the  affairs  of  the  Reformation  in  France  his  agency 
was  predominant.  Geneva  was  the  hearthstone  of  French 
Protestantism.  It  Avas  there  that  its  preachers  were 
trained.  The  principal  men  in  the  Huguenot  party 
looked  up  to  Calvin  as  to  an  oracle.  But  he  was 
strongly  averse  to  a  resort  to  arms  and  to  a  dependence 
on  political  agencies  and  expedients.  His  instincts  were, 
in  this  respect,  in  full  accord  with  those  of  Luther.  It 
would  be  impossible  to  describe  his  connection  with  the. 
Huguenot  struggle,  without  narrating  the  entire  history  of 
the  French  Reformation. 

In  the  concluding  years  of  Calvin's  life,  he  had  the 
satisfaction  of  seeing  Geneva  delivered  from  faction,  and 
the  institutions  of  education,  which  he  had  planted,  in  a 
flourishing  condition.  The  grievous  maladies  that  afflicted 
him  did  not  move  him  to  diminish  the  prodigious  labors 
which,  to  other  men  in  like  circumstances,  would  have  been 
unendurable.  It  had  been  his  habit  when  the  day  had 
been  consumed  in  giving  sermons  and  lectures  ;  in  the  ses- 
sions of  the  consistory  over  which  he  presided ;  in  attend- 
ing upon  the  Senate,  at  their  request,  to  take  part  in  their 
deliberations ;  in  receiving  and  answering  letters  that 
poured  in  upon  him  from  every  quarter  ;  in  conferring  with 
the  numerous  visitors  who  sought  his  advice  or  came  to 
him  from  different  countries — it  had  been  his  habit,' 
when  night  came,  to  devote  himself,  with  a  sense  of  relief, 


236   JOHN  CALVIN  AND  THE  GENEVAN  REFORMATION. 

to  the  studies  which  were  ever  most  accordant  with  his 
taste,  and  to  the  composition  of  his  books.  For  a  long 
time,  in  the  closing  period  of  his  life,  he  took  but  one 
meal  in  a  day,  and  this  was  often  omitted.  He  studied 
for  hours  in  the  morning,  preached  and  then  lectured,  be- 
fore taking  a  morsel  of  food.  Too  weak  to  sit  up,  he  dic- 
tated to  an  amanuensis  from  his  bed,  or  transacted  busi- 
ness with  those  who  came  to  consult  him.  When  his 
body  was  utterly  feeble,  when  he  was  reduced  to  a  shad- 
ow, his  mind  lost  none  of  its  clearness  or  energy.  No 
complaint  in  reference  to  his  physical  sufferings  was  heard 
from  him.  His  lofty  and  intrepid  spirit  triumphed  over 
all  physical  infirmity.  From  his  sick-bed,  he  regulated 
the  affairs  of  the  French  Reformation.  When  he  could 
no  longer  stand  upon  his  feet,  he  was  carried  to  church  to 
partake  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  and  to  a  session  of  the 
Senate.  Seeing  that  his  end  was  near,  he  desired  to  meet 
this  body  for  the  last  time.  A  celebrated  artist  has  de- 
picted the  interview  upon  the  canvas.  The  councilors 
gathered  about  his  bed,  and  he  addressed  them.  He 
thanked  them  for  the  tokens  of  honor  which  they  had 
granted  to  him,  and  craved  their  forgiveness  for  outbreak- 
ings  of  anger  which  they  had  treated  with  so  much  for- 
bearance. He  could  say  with  truth,  that  whatever  might 
be  his  faults,  he  had  served  their  republic  with  his  whole 
soul.  He  had  taught,  he  said,  with  no  feeling  of  uncer- 
tainty respecting  his  doctrine,  but  sincerely  and  honestly, 
according  to  the  Word  of  God.  "  Were  it  not  so,"  he 
added,  "  I  well  know  that  the  wrath  of  God  would  im- 
pend over  my  head."  Courteously  and  solemnly,  in  a 
paternal  tone,  he  warned  them  of  the  need  of  humility 
and  of  faithful  vigilance  to  keep  off  the  dangers  that 
might  threaten  the  State.  "  I  know,"  he  said,  "  the  mind 
and  walk  of  each  one  of  you,  and  know  that  ye  have  all 
need  of  admonition.  Much  is  wanting  even  to  the  best 
of  you."     He  concluded  with  a  fervent  prayer,  and  took 


LAST   DAYS   OF   CALVIN.  237 

each  one  by  the  hand,  as  with  tears  they  parted  from  him. 
Two  days  afterwards,  he  met  the  clergy  of  the  city  and  of 
the  neighborhood.  He  sat  up  in  his  bed  and,  having 
offered  prayer,  spoke  to  them.  He  began  by  saying  that 
it  might  be  thought  that  he  was  not  in  so  bad  a  case  as 
he  supposed.  "  But  I  assure  you,"  he  added,  "  in  all  my 
former  illnesses  and  sufferings,  I  have  never  felt  myself 
so  weak  and  sinking  as  now.  When  they  lay  me  down 
upon  the  bed,  my  senses  fail  and  I  become  faint."  He 
referred  to  his  past  career  in  Geneva.  When  he  came  to 
this  Church  there  was  preaching,  and  that  was  all.  They 
hunted  up  the  images  and  burnt  them,  but  of  a  Reforma- 
tion there  was  nothing  ;  all  was  insubordination  and  dis- 
order. He  had  been  obliged  to  go  through  tremendous 
conflicts.  Sometimes  in  the  night,  he  said,  to  terrify  him, 
fifty  or  sixty  shots  had  been  fired  before  his  door. 
"  Think,"  he  said,  "  what  an  impression  that  must  make 
upon  a  poor  scholar,  shy  and  timid  as  I  then  was,  and  at 
the  bottom  have  always  been."  This  last  statement  re- 
specting his  natural  disposition,  he  repeated  two  or  three 
times  with  emphasis.  He  adverted  to  his  banishment 
and  stay  in  Strasburg,  but  on  his  return  the  difficulties 
were  not  diminished.  They  had  set  their  dogs  on  him, 
with  the  cry  :  "  Seize  him  !  seize  him  !  "  and  his  clothes 
and  his  flesh  had  been  torn  by  them.  "  Although  I  am 
nothing,"  he  proceeded  to  say,  "  I  know  that  I  have  pre- 
vented more  than  three  hundred  riots  which  would  have 
desolated  Geneva."  He  asked  their  pardon  for  his  many 
faults ;  in  particular  for  his  quickness,  vehemence,  and 
readiness  to  be  angry.  In  regard  to  his  teaching  and  his 
writings,  he  could  say  that  God  had  given  him  the  grace 
to  go  to  work  earnestly  and  systematically,  so  that  he  had 
not  knowingly  perverted  or  erroneously  interpreted  a 
single  passage  of  the  Scriptures.  He  had  written  for  no 
personal  end,  but  only  to  promote  the  honor  of  God.  He 
gave  them  various   exhortations    relating  to  the  obliga- 


238   JOHN  CALVIN  AND  THE  GENEVAN  REFORMATION. 

tions  of  their  office ;  then  took  them  each  by  the  hand ; 
and  "  we  parted  from  him,"  says  Beza,  "  with  our  eyes 
bathed  in  tears,  and  our  hearts  full  of  unspeakable  grief." 
He  died  on  the  27th  of  May,  1564.  His  piercing  eye 
retained  its  brilliancy  to  the  last.  Apart  from  this,  his 
face  had  long  worn  the  look  of  death,  and  its  appearance, 
as  we  are  informed  by  Beza,  was  not  perceptibly  changed 
after  the  spirit  had  left  the  body.  His  last  days  were  of 
a  piece  with  his  life.  His  whole  course  has  been  com- 
pared by  Vinet  to  the  growth  of  one  rind  of  a  tree  from 
another,  or  to  a  chain  of  logical  sequences.  He  was  en- 
dued with  a  marvelous  power  of  understanding,  although 
the  imagination  and  sentiments  were  less  roundly  de- 
veloped. His  systematic  spirit  fitted  him  to  be  the 
founder  of  an  enduring  school  of  thought.  In  this  char- 
acteristic he  may  be  compared  with  Aquinas.  He  has 
been  appropriately  styled  the  Aristotle  of  the  Reforma- 
tion. He  was  a  perfectly  honest  man.  He  subjected  his 
will  to  the  eternal  rule  of  right,  as  far  as  he  could  dis- 
cover it.  His  motives  were  pure.  He  felt  that  God  was 
near  him,  and  sacrificed  everything  to  obey  the  direction 
of  Providence.  The  fear  of  God  ruled  in  his  soul ;  not 
a  slavish  fear,  but  a  principle  such  as  animated  the 
prophets  of  the  Old  Covenant.  The  combination  of  his 
qualities  was  such,  that  he  could  not  fail  to  attract  pro- 
found admiration  and  reverence  from  one  class  of  minds, 
and  excite  intense  antipathy  in  another.  There  is  no 
one  of  the  Reformers  who  is  spoken  of,  at  this  late  day, 
with  so  much  personal  feeling,  either  of  regard  or  aver- 
sion. But  whoever  studies  his  life  and  writings,  especially 
the  few  passages  in  which  he  lets  us  into  his  confidence 
and  appears  to  invite  our  sympathy,  will  acquire  a  grow- 
ing sense  of  his  intellectual  and  moral  greatness,  and  a 
tender  consideration  for  his  errors. 

In  Calvinism,  considered  as  a  theological  system,  and 
contrasted  with  other  types  of  Protestant  theology,  there 


CALVINISM   AND    CIVIL    LIBERTY.  239 

is  one  characteristic,  pervading  principle.  It  is  that  of 
the  sovereignty  of  God  ;  not  only  his  unlimited  control, 
within  the  sphere  of  mind,  as  well  as  of  matter,  but  the 
determination  of  His  will,  as  the  ultimate  cause  of  the 
salvation  of  some,  and  of  the  abandonment  of  others  to 
perdition. 

In  the  constitution  which  Calvin  created  at  Geneva,  as 
it  is  seen  in  the  light  which  the  lapse  of  three  centuries 
casts  upon  it,  were  two  capital  errors.  First,  the  juris- 
diction of  the  Church,  its  discipline  over  its  members,  was 
carried  into  the  details  of  conduct,  extended  over  personal 
and  domestic  life,  to  such  a  degree  as  unwarrantably  to 
curtail  individual  liberty.  Secondly,  the  power  of  coer- 
cion that  was  given  to  the  civil  authority  subverted 
freedom  in  religious  opinion  and  worship. 

How  is  it,  then,  that  Calvinism  is  acknowledged,  even 
by  its  foes,  to  have  promoted  powerfully  the  cause  of 
civil  liberty  ?  One  reason  lies  in  the  boundary  line  which 
it  drew  between  Church  and  State.  Calvinism  would 
not  surrender  the  peculiar  functions  of  the  Church  to  the 
civil  authority.1  Whether  the  Church,  or  the  Govern- 
ment, should  regulate  the  administration  of  the  Sacra- 
ment, and  admit  or  reject  communicants,  was  the  ques- 
tion which  Calvin  fought  out  with  the  authorities  at  Gen- 
eva. In  this  feature,  Calvinism  differed  from  the  rela- 
tion of  the  civil  rulers  to  the  Church,  as  established 
under  the  auspices  of  Zwingle,  as  well  as  of  Luther,  and 
from  the  Anglican  system  which  originated  under  Henry 
VIII.  In  its  theory  of  the  respective  powers  of  the 
Church,  and  of  the  Magistrate,  Calvinism  approximated 
to  the  traditional  view  of  the  Catholic  Church.  In 
France,  in  Holland,  in  Scotland,  in  England,  wherever 
Calvinism  was  planted,  it  had  no  scruples  about  resisting 
the  tyranny  of  civil  rulers.     This  principle,  in  the  long 

1  Calvin  condemns  Henry  VIII.  for  styling  himself  the  head  of  the  Anglican 
Church.     Kampschulte,  i.  271. 


240   JOHN  CALVIN  AND  THE  GENEVAN  REFORMATION. 

run,  would  inevitably  conduce  to  the  progress  of  civil 
freedom.  It  is  certain  that  the  distinction  between 
Church  and  State,  which  was  recognized  from  the  con- 
version of  Constantine,  notwithstanding  the  long  ages  of 
intolerance  and  persecution  that  were  to  follow,  was  the 
first  step,  the  necessary  condition,  in  the  development  of 
religious  liberty.  First,  it  must  be  settled  that  the  State 
shall  not  stretch  its  power  over  the  Church,  within  its 
proper  sphere ;  next,  that  the  State  shall  not  lend  its 
power  to  the  Church,  as  an  executioner  of  ecclesiastical 
laws. 

A  second  reason  why  Calvinism  has  been  favorable  to 
civil  liberty,  is  found  in  the  republican  character  of  its 
church  organization.  Laymen  shared  power  with  min- 
isters. The  people,  the  body  of  the  congregation,  took 
an  active  and  responsible  part  in  the  choice  of  the  clergy, 
and  of  all  other  officers.  At  Geneva,  the  alliance  of  the 
Church  with  the  civil  authority,  and  the  circumstances 
in  which  Calvin  was  placed,  reduced  to  a  considerable 
extent  the  real  power  of  the  people  in  church  affairs. 
Calvin  did  not  realize  his  own  theory.  But  elsewhere, 
especially  in  countries  where  Calvinism  had  to  encounter 
the  hostility  of  the  State,  the  democratic  tendencies  of 
the  system  had  full  room  for  development.  Men  who 
were  accustomed  to  rule  themselves  in  the  Church,  would 
claim  the  same  privilege  in  the  common weath. 

Another  source  of  the  influence  of  Calvinism,  in  ad- 
vancing the  cause  of  civil  liberty,  has  been  derived  from 
its  theology.  The  sense  of  the  exaltation  of  the  Al- 
mighty Ruler,  and  of  his  intimate  connection  with  the 
minutest  incidents  and  obligations  of  human  life,  which 
is  fostered  by  this  theology,  dwarfs  all  earthly  potentates. 
An  intense  spirituality,  a  consciousness  that  this  life  is 
but  an  infinitesimal  fraction  of  human  existence,  dissipates 
the  feeling  of  personal  homage  for  men,  however  high 
their  station,  and  dulls  the  lustre  of  all  earthly  grandeur. 


CALVINISM   AND   CIVIL   LIBERTY.  241 

Calvinism  and  Romanism  are  the  antipodes  of  each 
other.  Yet,  it  is  curious  to  observe  that  the  effect  of 
these  opposite  systems  upon  the  attitude  of  men  towards 
the  civil  authority,  has  often  been  not  dissimilar.  But 
the  Calvinist,  unlike  the  Romanist,  dispenses  with  a  hu- 
man priesthood,  which  has  not  only  often  proved  a  power- 
ful direct  auxiliary  to  temporal  rulers,  but  has  educated 
the  sentiments  to  a  habit  of  subjection,  which  renders 
submission  to  such  rulers  more  facile,  and  less  easy  to 
shake  off. 


16 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE  REFORMATION  IK  FRANCE. 

The  long  contest  for  Gallican  rights  had  lowered  the 
prestige  of  the  popes  in  France,  but  it  had  not  weakened 
the  Catholic  Church,  which  was  older  than  the  monarchy 
itself,  and,  in  the  feeling  of  the  people,  was  indissolubly 
associated  with  it.1  The  College  of  the  Sorbonne,  or  the 
Theological  Faculty  at  Paris,  and  the  Parliament,  which 
had  together  maintained  Gallican  liberty,  were  united  in 
stern  hostility  to  all  doctrinal  innovations.  The  Concordat 
concluded  between  Francis  I.  and  Leo  X.,  after  the  battle 
of  Marignano,  gave  to.  the  King  the  right  of  presentation 
to  vacant  benefices ;  to  the  Pope,  the  first-fruits.  It  ex- 
cited profound  discontent,  and  was  only  registered  by 
Parliament  after  prolonged  resistance  and  under  a  pro- 
test. It  abolished  the  Pragmatic  Sanction,  which  had 
been  deemed  the  charter  of  Gallican  independence  ;  but 
it  weakened  the  Catholic  Church,  only  as  it  led  to  the 
introduction  of  incompetent,  unworthy  persons,  favorites  of 
the  court,  into  ecclesiastical  offices,  and  thus  increased  the 
necessity  for  reform.2  In  Southern  France  a  remnant  of 
the  Waldenses  had  survived,  and  the  recollection  of  the 
Catharists  was  still  preserved  in  popular  songs  and  leg- 
ends. But  the  first  movements  towards  reform  emanated 
from  the  Humanist  culture. 

A  literary  and  scientific  spirit  was  awakened  in  France 

1  Ranke,  Franzosische  Geschichte  vornehmlich  im  16.  u.  17.  Jahrhundert,  i.  HO. 

2  On  the  corruption  consequent  upon  the  Concordat,  see  Ranke,  Franzosische. 
Geschichte,  i.  131. 


JACQUES   LEFEVRE.  243 

through  the  lively  intercourse  with  Italy,  which  subsisted 
under  Louis  XII.  and  Francis  I.  By  Francis  especially, 
Italian  scholars  and  artists  were  induced  in  large  num- 
bers to  take  up  their  abode  in  France.  Frenchmen  like- 
wise visited  Italy  and  brought  home  the  classical  culture 
which  they  acquired  there.  Among  the  scholars  who 
cultivated  Greek  was  Budseus,  the  foremost  of  them, 
whom  Erasmus  styled  the  "  wonder  of  France."  After 
the  "  Peace  of  the  Dames  "  was  concluded  at  Cambray, 
in  1529,  when  Francis  surrendered  Italy  to  Charles  V., 
a  throng  of  patriotic  Italians  who  feared  or  hated  the 
Spanish  rule,  streamed  over  the  Alps  and  gave  a  new 
impulse  to  literature  and  art.  Poets,  artists,  and  scholars 
found  in  the  king  a  liberal  and  enthusiastic  patron.  The 
new  studies,  especially  Hebrew  and  Greek,  were  opposed 
by  all  the  might  of  the  Sorbonne,  the  leader  of  which  was 
the  Syndic,  Beda.  He  and  his  associates  were  on  the 
watch  for  heresy,  and  every  author  who  was  suspected  of 
overstepping  the  bounds  of  orthodoxy,  was  immediately 
accused  and  subjected  to  persecution.  Thus  two  parties 
were  formed,  the  one  favorable  to  the  new  learning,  and 
the  other  inimical  to  it  and  rigidly  wedded  to  the  tradi- 
tional theology.1 

The  Father  of  the  French  Reformation,  or  the  one 
more  entitled  to  this  distinction  than  any  other,  is 
Jacques  Lefevre,  who  was  born  at  Etaples,  a  little  vil- 
lage of  Picardy,  about  the  year  1455,  prosecuted  his 
studies  at  the  University  of  Paris,  and  having  become  a 
master  of  arts  and  a  priest,  spent  some  time  in  Italy. 
After  his  return  he  taught  mathematics  and  philosophy 
at  Paris,  was  active  in  publishing  and  commenting  on  the 
works  of  Aristotle,  which  he  had  studied  in  the  original 
in  Italy,  as  well  as  in  printing  books  of  ancient  mathema- 
ticians, writings  of  the  Fathers,  and  mystical  productions 

1  Weber,    Geschichtliche    Darstellung    d.    Calvinismus    im    Verhultniss    zum 
Stoat,  p.  33  seq. 


244  THE   REFORMATION  IN   FRANCE. 

of  the  Middle  Ages.  Lefevre  was  honored  among  the 
Humanists  as  the  restorer  of  philosophy  and  science  in 
the  University.  Deeply  imbued  with  a  religious  spirit, 
in  1509  he  put  forth  a  commentary  on  the  Psalms,  and 
in  1512  a  commentary  on  the  Epistles  of  Paul.  As  early 
as  about  1512,  he  said  to  his  pupil  Farel:  "  God  will 
renovate  the  world,  and  you  will  be  a  witness  of  it ; " 
and  in  the  last  named  work,  he  says  that  the  signs  of  the 
times  betoken  that  a  renovation  of  the  Church  is  near  at 
hand.  He  teaches  the  doctrine  of  gratuitous  justification, 
and  deals  with  the  Scriptures  as  the  supreme  and  suffi- 
cient authority.  But  a  mystical,  rather  than  a  polemical 
vein  characterizes  him  ;  and  while  this  prevented  him 
from  breaking  with  the  Church,  it  also  blunted  the  sharp- 
ness of  the  opposition  which  his  opinions  were  adapted 
to  produce.  One  of  his  pupils  was  Briconnet,  Bishop  of 
Meaux,  who  held  the  same  view  of  justification  with  Le- 
f&vre,  and  fostered  the  evangelical  doctrine  in  his  diocese. 
The  enmity  of  the  Sorbonne  to  Lefevre  and  his  school 
took  a  more  aggressive  form  when  the  writings  of  Luther 
began  to  be  read  in  the  University  and  elsewhere.  The 
theologians  of  the  Sorbonne  set  their  faces  against  every 
deviation  from  the  dogmatic  system  of  Aquinas.  Reuch- 
lin,  having  been  a  student  at  Paris,  had  hoped  for  sup- 
port there  in  his  conflict  with  the  Dominicans  of  Cologne  ; 
but  the  Paris  faculty  declared  against  him.  In  1521  they 
sat  in  judgment  on  Luther  and  condemned  him  as  a  her- 
tic  and  blasphemer.1  Heresy  was  treated  by  them  as  an 
offense  against  the  State;  and  the  Parliament,  the  highest 
judicial  tribunal,  showed  itself  prompt  to  carry  out  their 
(Irenes  by  the  infliction  of  the  usual  penalties.  The 
Sorbonne  formally  condemned  a  dissertation  of  Lefdvre 
on  a  point  of  the  evangelical  history,  in  which  lie  had 
controverted  the  traditional  opinion.  He,  witli  Farel,  Ge- 
rard Roussel,  and  other  preachers,  found  an  asylum  with 

1  Melancthon  replied.     Seckendorf,  i.  185. 


MARGARET  OF  NAVARRE.  245 

BriQonnet.  Lefevre  translated  the  New  Testament  from 
the  Vulgate,  and,  in  a  commentary  on  the  Gospels,  explic- 
itly pronounced  the  Bible  the  sole  rule  of  faith,  which  the 
individual  might  interpret  for  himself,  and  declared  justi- 
fication to  be  through  faith  alone,  without  human  works 
or  merit.  It  seemed  as  if  Meaux  aspired  to  become  an- 
other Wittenberg.1  At  length  a  commission  of  Parlia- 
ment was  appointed  to  take  cognizance  of  heretics  in  that 
district.  Briconnet,  either  intimidated,  as  Beza  asserts, 
or  recoiling  at  the  sight  of  an  actual  secession  from  the 
Church,  joined  in  the  condemnation  of  Luther  and  of  his 
opinions,  and  even  acquiesced  in  the  persecution  which, 
fell  upon  Protestantism  within  his  diocese.2  Lefevre 
fled  to  Strasburg,  was  afterwards  recalled  by  Francis  I., 
but  ultimately  took  up  his  abode  in  the  court  of  the 
King's  sister,  Margaret,  the  Queen  of  Navarre.3 

Margaret,  from  the  first,  was  favorably  inclined  to  the 
new  doctrines.  There  were  two  parties  at  the  court. 
The  mother  of  the  King,  Louisa  of  Savoy,  and  the  Chan- 
cellor Duprat,  were  allies  of  the  Sorbonne.  They  were 
of  the  class  of  persons,  numerous  in  that  age,  who  en- 
deavor to  atone  for  private  vices  by  bigotry,  and  by  the 
persecution  of  heterodox  opinions.  Margaret,  on  the 
contrary,  a  versatile  and  accomplished  princess,  cherished 
a  mystical  devotion  which  carried  her  beyond  Briconnet 
in  her  acceptance  of  the  teaching  of  the  Reformers.  But 
this  very  spirit  of  mysticism,  or  quietism,  produced  in  her 
mind  an    indifference  as  to  external  rites  and  forms  of 

1  Henri  Martin,  Hist  aire  de  France,  viii.  149. 

2  Beza,  Histoire  Eccl.  d.  Eglises  Ref.  au  Ruyaume  de  France,  livre  i.  (1517). 
The  last  books  of  this  work  are  by  another  hand,  but  written  under  the  over- 
sight of  Beza.    Herzog,  Real-Encycl.  art.  "  Beza." 

3  The  middle  path  which  Roussel  and  others,  who  accepted  the  doctrine  of 
justification  by  faith,  but  remained  in  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  endeavored 
to  take,  is  exhibited  by  Schmidt  in  his  work,  Gerard  Roussel,  predicateur  <lt 
la  Reine. Marguerite  de  Navarre  (1845),  and  in  the  articles,  by  the  same  author, 
in  Herzog's  Real-Encycl,  "  Briconnet,"  "Gerard  Roussel,"  and  -'Margaretha 
von  Orleans." 


216  THE   REFORMATION   IN   FRANCE. 

ecclesiastical  order ;  so  that  while  she  received  the  Prot- 
estant idea  of  salvation  by  faith,  and  of  the  direct  per- 
sonal communion  of  the  soul  with  Christ,  she  was  not 
moved  to  withdraw  from  the  mass,  or  separate  formally 
from  the  old  Church.  There  was  a  warm  friendliness  for 
the  Reforming  preachers,  a  disposition  to  protect  them 
against  their  enemies,  a  type  of  piety  that  no  longer  rel- 
ished the  invocation  of  saints,  and  of  the  Virgin,  and  vari- 
ous other  peculiarities  of  the  Catholic  Ritual,  yet  left  the 
sacraments  and  the  polity  of  the  Church  un assailed.  The 
passionate  attachment  of  Margaret  to  her  brother,  of 
which  so  much  has  been  said,  illustrates  her  nature,  in 
which  sensibility  had  so  large  a  place.1  The  authoress  of 
a  religious  poem,  the  "  Mirror  of  the  Sinful  Soul,"  which 
was  so  Protestant  in  its  tone  as  to  excite  the  wrath  of 
the  Sorbonne,  and  of  many  devotional  hymns  ;  she  also 
composed,  in  her  later  days,  the  "  Heptameron,"  a 
series  of  tales  in  the  style  of  Boccaccio,  in  which  the 
moral  reflections  and  warnings  are  a  weak  antidote  to 
the  natural  influence  of  the  narratives  themselves.2  Be- 
fore the  death  of  her  first  husband,  the  Duke  of  Alencon, 
and  while  she  was  a  widow,  she  exerted  her  influence  to 
the  full  extent  in  behalf  of  the  persecuted  Protestants, 
and  in  opposition  to  the  Sorbonne.  After  her  marriage 
to  Henry  d'Albret,  the  King  of  Navarre,  she  continued, 
in  her  own  little  court  and  principality,  to  favor  the  re- 
formed doctrine,  and  its  professors.  Occasionally  her 
peculiar  temperament  led   her    to    entertain    hospitably 

1  See  the  judicious  remarks  of  Henri  Martin,  viii.  83,  n.  4.  M.  Genin,  in  his 
Sii]>]>lement  a  In  notici  --on-  Marguerite  d'Angouleme,  which  forms  (-he  preface  to 
the  NouveUei  Lettres  de  la  Reine  de  la.  Navarre,  has  given  an  improvable  ver- 
sion of  this  '■  tristc  mystere,"  which  attrihutes  a  culpable  intention  to  the  sister. 
An  opposite  view  is  presented  by  Michelet,  La  Reforme,  p.  175. 

-  See  the  brief  but  admirable  remarks  of  Professor  Morley,  in  his  interest- 
ing biography  of  Clement  Marot  (London,  1871),  i.  "27^.  It  is  a  curious  illus- 
tration of  the  manners  of  the  French  nobility  at  this  time,  that  Margaret  should 
be  the  writer  of  these  stories,  and  that  her  daughter,  the  virtuous  and  noble 
Jeanne  d'Albert,  should  have  published  them  in  the  first  correct  edition.  See 
Merle  d'Aubigne,  History  of  the  Reformation  in  the  Time  of  Calvin,  ii.  170. 


RELIGIOUS   TENDENCIES   OF   FRANCIS   I.  247 

enthusiasts  who  concealed  an  antinomian  license  under  a 
mystical  theory  of  gospel  -  liberty.  Calvin  wrote  to  her 
on  the  subject,  in  consequence  of  her  complaint  respecting 
the  language  of  his  book  against  this  sect.1  He  some- 
where speaks  of  her  attachment,  and  that  of  her  friends, 
to  the  Gospel,  as  a  platonic  love.  Yet,  the  drift  of  her 
influence  appears  in  the  character  of  her  daughter,  the 
heroic  Jeanne  d'Albret,  the  mother  of  Henry  IV.,  and  in 
the  readiness  of  the  people,  over  whom  Margaret  imme- 
diately ruled,  to  receive  the  Protestant  faith.  Her  mar- 
riage to  the  King  of  Navarre,  and  retirement  from  the 
French  court  were  preceded  by  the  return  to  England  of 
one  of  the  young  ladies  in  her  service,  Anne  Boleyn, 
whose  tragical  history  is  so  intimately  connected  with  the 
introduction  of  Protestantism  into  England.2 

Francis  I.,  whose  generous  patronage  of  artists  and 
men  of  letters,  gave  him  the  title  of  "  Father  of  Sci- 
ence," had  no  love  for  the  Sorbonne,  for  the  Parliament, 
or  for  the  monks.  He  entertained  the  plan  of  bringing 
Erasmus  to  Paris,  and  placing  him  at  the  head  of  an  in- 
stitution of  learning.  He  read  the  Bible  with  his  mother 
and  sister,  and  felt  no  superstitious  aversion  to  the  lead- 
ers of  reform.  He  established  the  college  of  "  the  three 
languages,"  in  defiance  of  the  Sorbonne.  The  Faculty  of 
Theology,  and  the  Parliament,  found  in  the  King  and 
court  a  hindrance  to  their  persecuting  policy.  It  was  in 
the  face  of  his  opposition  that  the  Sorbonne  put  the  trea- 
tise of  Lefevre  on  their  list  of  prohibited  books.  *  It  was 
not  through  any  agency  of  the  King  that  the  company 
of  reforming  preachers  in  Meaux  was  dispersed.  The 
revolt  of   the  Constable  Bourbon    made  it  necessary  for 

1  The  treatise,  Contre  la  Secte  Fantastique  et  Furieuse  des  Libertines  qui  se 
disent  Spirituels  (1544).     Calvin's  Letter  is  in  Bonnet,  i.  429. 

2  The  Letters  of  Margaret  have  heen  published  by  M.  Genin,  Lettres  de  Mar- 
guerite d"  Angoulemt  (1841 J  ;  Nouvelks  Lettres  de  la  Reine  de  Navarre  (1842). 
To  the  first  of  these  collections  is  prefixed  a  full  biographical  introduction 
Her  character  and  career  are  described  by  Von  Polenz,  Gsch.  d.  Franzosisih. 
Frot.,  i.  199  seq. 


248  THE  REFORMATION  IN   FRANCE. 

Francis  to  conciliate  the  clergy ;  and  the  battle  of  Pavia, 
followed  by  the  captivity  of  the  King,  and  the  regency  of 
his  mother,  gave  a  free  rein  to  the  persecutors.  An  in- 
quisitorial court,  composed  partly  of  laymen,  was  ordained 
by  Parliament.  Heretics  were  burned  at  Paris,  and  in 
the  provinces.  Louis  de  Berquin,  who  combined  a  cul- 
ture which  won  the  admiration  of  Erasmus,  with  the 
religious  earnestness  of  Luther,  was  thrown  into  prison. 
The  King,  however,  on  his  return  from  Spain,  at  the 
earnest  intercession  of  Margaret,  set  him  free.  The  fail- 
ure of  Francis,  in  his  renewed  struggle  in  Italy,  embold- 
ened the  persecuting  party.  Berquin,  who  had  com- 
menced a  prosecution  against  Beda,  the  leader  of  the 
heresy-hunting  commissioners  appointed  by  the  Sorbonne, 
was  again  taken  into  custody,  and  this  time  perished, 
before  the  King  could  interpose  to  save  him.  The  theo- 
logical antagonists  of  Reform  went  so  far  as  to  endeavor 
to  put  restrictions  upon  the  professors  in  the  college  for 
the  ancient  languages,  and  even  to  lampoon,  in  a  scholas- 
tic comedy,  the  King's  sister,  against  whom  they  threw 
out  charges  of  heresy,  besides  condemning  her  book,  the 
44  Mirror  of  the  Sinful  Soul."  Francis  was,  at  this  time, 
holding  a  conference  with  Clement  VII.,  in  Provence,  and 
on  his  return  was  extremely  indignant  at  the  treatment 
of  his  sister.  He  authorized  Gerard  Roussel  to  preach 
freely  in  Paris ;  and  when  Beda  raised  an  outcry  against 
his  sermons,  Francis  caused  Beda  to  be  banished  and 
prosecuted  for  sedition.     He  died  in  prison,  in  1537. 

At  this  moment  it  seemed  doubtful  what  course  France 
would  take  in  the  great  religious  conflict  of  the  period. 
In  1534,  Henry  VIII.  separated  England  from  the  Papacy, 
and  made  himself  the  head  of  the  English  Church.  This 
event  made  a  profound  impression  throughout  Christen- 
dom. Since  the  Diet  of  Worms,  the  Papacy  had  lost 
the  half  of  Germany  and  of  Switzerland,  then  Denmark 
(in  1526),  then  Sweden  (in  1527),  and  now  England. 


ROME,    THE   RENAISSANCE,    THE   REFORMATION.  249 

The  Netherlands  were  deeply  agitated,  and  the  confla- 
gration which  Luther  had  kindled  was  spreading  into 
Italy  and  Spain.  The  Teutonic  portion  of  Christendom 
was  lost  to  Rome ;  what  would  be  the  decision  of  the 
Romanic  nations  ?  It  was  inevitable  that  all  eyes  should 
be  turned  to  France,  and  to  its  King.1  Early  in  1534, 
the  Landgrave  of  Hesse  came  to  negotiate  in  person  with 
Francis.  Margaret  corresponded  with  Melancthon,  whom 
she  was  desirous  of  bringing  to  France.  The  Landgrave 
restored  the  Duke  of  Wurtemberg  to  his  possessions,  and 
in  Wurtemberg  the  two  forms  of  worship,  Lutheran  and 
Catholic,  were  made  free.  Francis  I.  had  approached 
nearer  to  the  Protestants  ;  and  the  death  of  Clement 
VII.,  in  September  of  this  year  (1584),  had  released 
Francis  from  his  political  ties  with  the  Medici  and  the 
Papacy.  The  violent  spirit  of  the  champions  of  the 
Papacy  in  Paris,  the  offensive  proceedings  of  monks  in 
Orleans  and  elsewhere,  had  produced  a  reaction  unfavor- 
able to  their  cause. 

An  eminent  modern  historian  of  France  has  depicted 
the  three  rival  systems,  Rome,  the  Renaissance,  and  the 
Reformation,  which  were  presented  to  the  choice  of 
France,  and  were  represented  in  three  individuals,  who 
happened  to  be  together  for  a  moment  in  Paris  —  Calvin, 
Rabelais,  Loyola.-  This  interesting  passage  of  Martin 
suggests  a  few  observations  which,  however,  are  not 
wholly  in  accord  with  his  own.  Calvinism  was  a  product 
of  the  French  mind.  In  its  sharp  and  logical  structure 
it  corresponded  to  the  peculiarities  of  the  French  intel- 
lect. In  its  moral  earnestness,  in  its  demand  for  the 
reform  of  ecclesiastical  abuses,  it  found  a  response  in 
the  consciences  of  good  men.  But  Calvinism  was  the 
radical  type  of  Protestantism  ;  it  broke  abruptly  and 
absolutely  with  the  past,  and  must  for  this  reason  en- 
counter a  vast  might  of  opposition  from  traditional  feel- 

1  Henri  Martin,  viii.  180.  2  Ibid.,  184. 


250  THE  REFORMATION  IN  FRANCE. 

ings,  from  sacred  or  superstitious  associations.  The 
dogma  of  predestination,  which  Calvinism  put  in  the 
forefront  of  its  theology,  would  stir  up  the  hostility  of 
men  in  whom  the  spirit  of  the  Renaissance  was  predom- 
inant, not  to  speak  of  other  classes.  It  was,  moreover,  a 
defect,  that  Calvinism  did  not  rise  to  the  level  of  religious 
toleration.  In  the  midst  of  their  own  sufferings,  the  Cal- 
vinistic  preachers  of  France  invoked  the  arm  of  the  magis- 
trate to  suppress  and  punish  Anabaptists,  Servetians, 
and  the  like,  not  as  disturbers  of  civil  order,  but  as 
heretics.  But  stronger  than  any  other  obstacle  in  the 
way  of  the  Calvinistic  Reform  was  the  amendment  of 
life  which  it  required.  It  was  too  stern,  unrelenting  a 
foe  of  sensuality  to  make  itself  tolerable  to  a  multitude 
of  men  and  women,  in  the  court  and  out  of  it,  who 
could  have  endured  easily  its  doctrinal  formulas  and  have 
submitted  to  its  method  of  worship.  At  the  opposite  ex- 
treme from  Calvinism  was  the  spirit  of  Spanish  Cathol- 
icism, the  reawakened  zeal  for  the  traditions,  the  au- 
thority, the  imaginative  worship  of  the  old  religion  ;  the 
spirit  of  the  Catholic  Reaction,  which  found  an  embodi- 
ment in  Loyola  and  his  famous  society.  With  this 
spirit  France  as  a  nation,  France  left  to  its  natural  im- 
pulses and  affinities,  did  not  sympathize.  Between  these 
mighty  contending  forces,  which  more  and  more  were 
coming  into  conflict,  was  the  literary,  philosophical,  scep- 
tical temper  of  the  Renaissance,  which  found  an  expres- 
sion in  that  strangest  of  writers,  Rabelais,  whose  extraor- 
dinary genius  has  been  acknowledged  by  the  profoundest 
students  of  literature,  whose  influence  upon  the  French 
language  lias  been  compared  to  that  of  Dante  upon  the 
Italian,  and  who  veiled  under  a  mask  of  burlesque  fiction  — 
of  filth  and  ribaldry,  too,  we  must  add  —  his  ideas  upon 
human  nature,  society,  education,  and  religion.  The 
follies  of  monks  and  priests,  the  sophistry  and  ferocity 
of   the  Sorbonne,  he  lashes  to  such  an  extent  that  he 


EQUIVOCAL   POSITION   OF   FRANCIS  I.  251 

needed  powerful  protectors  to  save  him  from  their  wrath. 
His  own  religion  does  not  extend  beyond  a  theism,  in 
which  even  personal  immortality  has  no  clear  recognition. 
It  is  doubtless  true  that  one  type  of  thought  and  feeling 
in  France  at  that  day  is  reflected  on  the  pages  of  Gar- 
gantua  and  Pantagruel.  A  little  later,  a  scepticism  of 
a  somewhat  modified  type,  yet  a  genuine  product,  like- 
wise, of  the  Renaissance,  appears  in  Montaigne.  What- 
ever attractions  this  species  of  philosophical  scepticism, 
or  of  natural  religion,  may  have  for  the  French  mind,  it 
was  too  intangible  in  form,  it  had  too  little  of  earnestness 
and  courage,  to  mediate  between  the  two  resolute  com- 
batants who  were  to  contend  for  the  possession  of  France. 
Much,  if  not  everything,  depended  on  the  path  which 
the  hesitating  monarch,  Francis  I.,  would  conclude  to 
take.  The  French  monarchy,  it  has  been  said,  which  had 
been  emancipated  politically  from  Rome  since  Philip  the 
Fair,  had  nothing  to  gain  by  becoming  Protestant.1  But 
at  least  it  had  much  to  gain  by  preserving  its  independ- 
ence ;  by  refusing  to  enlist  in  the  reactionary,  repressive 
policy  of  Spanish  Catholicism  ;  by  declining  to  partake  in 
a  work  in  which  the  House  of  Austria  had  taken  the 
leading  part.  But  Francis  I.  did  not  assume  a  distinct 
and  independent  position.  He  did  not  embrace  Protes- 
tantism ;  he  did  not  consistently  throw  himself  upon  the 
side  of  ultramontane  Catholicism.  Now  partially  toler- 
ating the  Reformation,  and  now  persecuting  it  with  base 
cruelty,  he  adhered  to  no  definite  policy.  By  this  un- 
decided and  vacillating  attitude  he  brought  upon  his 
country  incalculable  miseries,  civil  wars  in  which  France 
became  "  not  the  arbiter,  but  the  prey,  of  Europe,"  and 
its  soil  "  the  frightful  theatre  of  the  battle  of  sects  and 
nations."  "  His  dynasty  perished  in  blood  and  mire," 
and  France  would  have  perished  with  it,  had  not  this 
fate  been  arrested  by  a  statesman  and  warrior  whom 
Providence  raised  up  to  mitigate  the  lot  of  his  country.2 

1  Mignet,  quoted  by  Henri  Martin,  viii.  216.  3  Martin,  p.  217. 


252  THE  REFORMATION  IN   FRANCE. 

Notwithstanding  his  friendly  professions  to  the  Luther- 
ans, it  soon  appeared  that  if  Francis  would  have  been 
glad  to  see  a  Reformation  after  the  Erasmian  type,  he 
had  no  sympathy  with  attacks  upon  the  doctrine  of  the 
Sacraments  or  upon  the  hierarchical  system  of  the  Church, 
the  topics  which  his  sister,  in  her  writings,  had  avoided. 
Nor  had  he  any  disposition  to  countenance  movements 
that  involved  a  religious  division  in  his  kingdom.  As 
long  as  religious  dissent  was  confined  to  men  of  rank  and 
education,  the  King  might  discountenance  the  use  of 
force  to  repress  it ;  but  when  it  penetrated  into  the  lower 
ranks  of  the  people,  the  case  was  different.  Unity  in 
religion  was  an  element  in  the  strength  of  his  monarchy, 
of  which  he  boasted.  He  prized  the  old  maxim,  "  Un  roi, 
un  foi,  un  loi."  When,  therefore,  in  October,  1534,  in- 
considerate zealots  posted  at  the  corners  of  the  streets 
in  Paris,  and  even  on  the  door  of  the  King's  chamber  at 
Blois,  placards  denouncing  the  mass,  he  signalized  his 
devotion  to  the  Catholic  religion  by  coining  to  Paris  to 
take  part  in  solemn  religious  processions,  and  in  the 
burning,  with  circumstances  of  atrocious  cruelty,  of 
eighteen  heretics.  Yet  again  he  showed  himself  anxious 
to  cement  a  political  alliance  with  the  German  Protes- 
tants, and  even  entered  into  negotiations  looking  to  a 
union  of  the  opposing  religious  parties.  He  went  so  far 
as  to  invite  Melancthon  to  Paris  to  help  forward  the  en- 
terprise. He  claimed  that  the  persons  who  had  been  put 
to  death  were  fanatics  and  seditious  people,  whom  the 
safety  of  the  State  rendered  it  necessary  to  destroy.  In 
truth,  the  Grand  Master,  Montmorenci,  and  the  Cardinal 
de  Tournon,  active  promoters  of  persecution,  had  per- 
suaded him  that  the  posting  of  the  placards  was  the  first 
step  in  a  great  plot  of  Anabaptists,  who  designed  to  do 
in  France  what  they  had  done  in  Miinster.1  But  the 
unwillingness  of  Francis  to  produce  a  schism,  or  to  place 

1  Henri  Martin,  viii.  223. 


THE  INFLUENCE  OF  GENEVA.  253 

himself  in  antagonism  to  the  Catholic  Church  obliged  him 
to  give  his  approval  to  a  rigid  statement  of  doctrine,  in 
opposition  to  the  Protestant  views,  which  the  Sorbonne 
put  forth,  in  the  form  of  a  direction  to  preachers.1  He 
even  did  not  lift  a  finger,  in  1545,  to  prevent  the  whole* 
sale  slaughter  of  his  unoffending  Waldensian  subjects. 
His  governing  aim  was  to  uphold  the  power  of  France,  and 
to  withstand  and  reduce  the  power  of  the  Emperor.  Hence 
he  cultivated  the  friendship  and  assisted  the  cause  of  the 
Protestants  in  Germany,  while  he  was  inflicting  impris- 
onment and  death  upon  their  brethren  in  France.  It  was 
not  partiality  for  Protestantism,  but  hostility  to  Charles, 
that  moved  him ;  and  so  strong  was  this  sentiment,  that 
he  did  not  hesitate  to  make  common  cause  with  the  Turks, 
for  the  sake  of  weakening  his  adversary.  On  the  whole, 
during  the  reign  of  Francis,  Protestant  opinions  found 
not  a  little  favor  among  the  higher  classes.  For  a  while, 
it  was  Lutheranism  that  was  adopted.  But  Luther  was 
too  thoroughly  a  German  to  be  congenial  to  the  French 
mind.  It  was  Calvinism,  as  soon  as  Calvinism  arose, 
which  attracted  the  sympathies  of  the  Frenchmen  who 
accepted  the  Protestant  faith. 

Farel  and  Calvin  were  both  fugitives  from  perse- 
cution in  France.  Calvin  returned  to  Geneva  from  his 
banishment  in  1541.  More  and  more  Geneva  became 
an  asylum  for  Frenchmen  whom  intolerance  drove  from 
their  country.  Many  of  them  came,  wearing  the  scars 
which  the  instruments  of  torture  had  left  upon  them. 
As  the  victims  of  religious  cruelty  emerged  from  the 
passes  of  the  Jura  and  caught  sight  of  the  holy  city, 
they  fell  on  their  knees  with  thanksgivings  to  God.2 
From  thirty  printing-offices  of  Geneva,  Protestant  works 
were  sent  forth,  which  were  scattered  over  France  by 
colporteurs  at  the  peril  of  their  lives.  The  Bible  in 
French  was  issued  in  a  little  volume,  which  it  was  easy 

1  Ranke,  i.  116.  2  Sismondi,  lltstoire  des  Frangais,  xiii.  24  seq. 


254  THE  REFORMATION  IN  FRANCE. 

to  hide ;  also,  the  Psalms,  in  the  version  of  Clement 
Marot,  with  the  interlinear  music  of  Goudimel.1  Calvin 
was  indefatigable  in  exhorting  and  encouraging  his  coun- 
trymen by  his  letters.  Preachers  who  were  trained  at 
his  side  returned  to  their  country  and  ministered  to  the 
little  churches  which  long  held  their  worship  in  secret. 
The  Reformation  spread  rapidly,  especially  in  the  South 
of  France.  The  spectacle  of  godly  men  of  pure  lives, 
led  to  the  stake,  while  atheists  and  scoffers  were  tolerated 
if  they  would  go  to  the  mass,  alienated  many  from  the 
old  religion. 

Henry  II.,  who  succeeded  his  father  in  1547,  had  no 
sympathy  with  Protestantism.  He  might  support  the 
Protestants  abroad  when  a  political  object  was  to  be 
gained,  as  when  he  entered  into  a  treaty  with  Maurice  at 
the  time  when  the  latter  was  about  to  take  up  arms 
against  the  Emperor ;  but  at  home  he  cooperated  with 
the  Sorbonne,  who  were  more  and  more  busy  in  their 
work  of  extirpating  false  doctrine  by  burning  the  books 
and  persons  of  its  professors.  The  rage  of  the  common 
people,  and  even  the  holy  horror  of  licentious  courtiers, 
were  excited  by  fictitious  tales  of  abominable  vice  which 
was  said  to  be  practiced  in  the  meetings  of  the  Hugue- 
nots. To  be  objects  of  this  sort  of  calumny  has  been 
a  common  experience  of  sects  which  have  been  obliged  to 
conduct. their  rites  in  secrecy.2 

Yet  in  this  reign  the  Protestant  opinions  made  great 
progress.  In  1558,  it  was  estimated  that  there  were  two 
thousand  places  of  reformed  worship  scattered  over 
France,  and  congregations  numbering  four  hundred  thou- 
sand.  They  were  organized  after  the  Presbyterian  form, 
and  were  adherents  of  the  Genevan  type  of  doctrine.     In 

1  See  an  eloquent  passage  on  the  influence  of  Geneva  in  Michelet,  Guei-res  de 
Re  I if/ ion,  p.  108. 

-  Such  accusations  were  brought  against  Jews  in  the  Middle  Ages.  Like 
charges  were  brought  against  the  early  Christians  in  the  Roman  Empire.  Gib- 
bon, II.  ch.  xv. 


PERSECUTION   BY    HENRY   II.  255 

1559  they  ventured  to  hold  a  general  synod  in  Paris, 
where  they  adopted  their  confession  of  faith  and  deter- 
mined the  method  of  their  church  organization. 

After  Henry  concluded  the  disastrous  peace  of  Cateau- 
Cambresis,  by  which  his  conquests  in  Italy  and  in  the 
Netherlands  were  given  up  to  Spain,  and  his  daughter, 
Elizabeth,  was  to  be  married  to  Philip  II.,  and  his  sister, 
Margaret,  to  the  Duke  of  Savoy,  he  commenced  with 
fresh  vigor  the  work  of  persecution.  It  Avas  involved  in 
this  treaty  that  the  two  kings  should  unite  in  the  sup- 
pression of  heresy.  "  The  King  of  France,  which,  since 
the  reverses  of  Charles  V.,  had  been  the  first  power  in 
Europe,  bought,  at  the  price  of  many  provinces,  the  rank 
of  Lieutenant  of  the  King  of  Spain  in  the  Catholic 
party."  a  He  unexpectedly  presented  himself  in  a  session 
of  Parliament,  where  a  milder  policy  had  begun  to  find 
advocates,  and  ordered  the  two  members  who  had  ex- 
pressed themselves  most  emphatically  on  that  side  to  be 
shut  up  in  the  Bastile.  He  declared  that  he  would  make 
the  extirpation  of  heresy  his  principal  business,  and  by 
letter  threatened  the  Parliament  and  inferior  courts  in 
case  they  showed  any  leniency  to  heretics.  But  in  a  tilt 
which  formed  a  part  of  the  festivals  in  honor  of  the  mar- 
riages, a  splinter  from  the  spear  of  Montgomery,  the 
Captain  of  his  Guards,  struck  his  eye  and  inflicted  a 
deadly  wound.  It  seemed  to  the  Protestants  that  in  the 
moment  of  extreme  peril  the  hand  of  the  Almighty  was 
stretched  out  to  deliver  them  (1559). 

Thus  far  persecution  had  failed  of  its  design.  "  The 
fanatics  and  the  politicians  had  thought  to  annihilate 
heresy  by  the  number  and  atrocity  of  the  punishments : 
they  perceived  with  dismay  that  the  hydra  multiplied 
itself  under  their  blows.  They  had  only  succeeded  in 
exalting  to  a  degree  unheard  of  before,  all  that  there  are 
of  heroic  powers  in  the  human  soul.  For  one  martyr 
i  Martin,  viii.  480. 


256  THE  REFORMATION  IN  FRANCE. 

who  disappeared  in  the  flames,  there  presented  themselves 
a  hundred  more  :  men,  women,  children,  marched  to  their 
punishment,  singing  the  Psalms  of  Marot,  or  the  Canticle 
of  Simeon  — 

'  Rappelez  votre  Serviteur, 
Seigneur!  j'ai  vu  votre  Sauveur. 

Many  expired  in  ecstasy,  insensible  to  the  refined  cruel- 
ties of  the  savages  who  invented  tortures  to  prolong  their 
agony.  More  than  one  judge  died  of  consternation  or  re- 
morse. Others  embraced  the  faith  of  those  whom  they  sent 
to  the  scaffold.  The  executioner  at  Dijon  was  converted 
at  the  foot  of  the  pyre.  All  the  great  phenomena,  in  the 
most  vast  proportions,  of  the  first  days  of  Christianity, 
were  seen  to  reappear.  Most  of  the  victims  died  with 
the  eye  turned  towards  that  New  Jerusalem,  that  holy  city 
of  the  Alps,  where  some  had  been  to  seek,  whence  others 
had  received  the  Word  of  God.  Not  a  preacher,  not  a 
missionary  was  condemned  who  did  not  salute  Calvin 
from  afar,  thanking  him  for  having  prepared  him  for  so 
beautiful  an  end.  They  no  more  thought  of  reproaching 
Calvin  for  not  following  them  into  France  than  a  soldier 
reproaches  his  general  for  not  plunging  into  the  melee."  a 
We  have  now  to  refer  to  the  circumstances  that  con- 
verted the  Huguenots  into  a  political  party.  With  the 
accession  of  Francis  II.,  a  boy  of  sixteen,  Catharine  de 
Medici,  the  widow  of  the  late  king  and  the  mother  of 
his  successor,  hoped  to  gratify  her  ambition  by  ruling  the 
kingdom.  The  daughter  of  Lorenzo  II.,  of  Florence,  and 
the  niece  of  Clement  VII.,  her  childhood  had  been  passed 
in  an  atmosphere  of  duplicity,  and  she  had  thoroughly 
imbibed  the  unprincipled  maxims  of  the  Italian  school  of 
politics.  The  death  of  the  Dauphin  had  made  her  husband 
the  heir  of  the  throne  ;  but  his  aversion  to  her  was  such 
that,  at  an  earlier  day,  when  it  was  supposed  that  no  chil- 
dren would  spring  from  her  marriage,  there  was  an  idea 

i  Martin,  viii.  480. 


CATHARINE   DE   MEDICI    AND   THE    GUISES.  257 

of  sending  her  back  to  Italy.  She  had  to  pay  assiduous 
court  to  the  mistresses  of  her  father-in-law  and  her  hus- 
band. Even  after  the  birth  of  her  children  and  after  her 
husband  ascended  the  throne,  she  did  not  escape  from  her 
humiliating  position.  She  was  dependent  upon  the  good 
offices  of  Diana  of  Poitiers,  Henry's  mistress,  for  the 
maintenance  of  relations  with  her  husband,  whose  repug- 
nance to  her  was  partly  founded  on  physical  peculiarities, 
which  were  derived  from  her  profligate  father  and  which 
entailed  a  diseased  constitution  upon  her  children.1  Ac- 
customed from  early  childhood  to  hide  her  thoughts  and 
feelings  ;  without  conscience  and  almost  without  a  heart ; 
caring  little  for  religion  except  to  hate  its  restraints, 
Catharine  had  nursed  her  dream  of  ambition  in  secret.2 
But  the  fact  that  Francis  was  legally  of  age,  though  practi- 
cally in  his  minority,  disappointed  her  hope.  It  imme- 
diately appeared  that  the  young  King  was  entirely  under 
the  control  of  the  family  of  Guise.  Claude  of  Guise  had 
been  a  wealthy  and  prominent  nobleman  of  Lorraine, 
who  had  distinguished  himself  at  Marignano,  and  in  the 
subsequent  contests  with  Charles  V.  Two  of  his  sons, 
Francis,  Duke  of  Guise,  and  Charles,  Cardinal  of  Lor- 
raine, had  acquired  great  power  under  Henry  II.  :  the 
Duke  as  a  military  leader,  especially  by  the  successful 
defense  of  Metz  and  the  taking  of  Calais ;  and  the  Car- 
dinal as  Confessor  of  the  King,  whose  conscience,  Beza 
says,  he  carried  in  his  sleeve.  Their  sister  had  married 
James  V.  of  Scotland  ;  and  her  daughter,  Mary  Stuart, 
who  was  to  play  so  prominent  a  part  in  the  history  of  the 
age,  was  wedded  to  the  youthful  King,  Francis  II.  He  was 
weak  in  mind  and  body,  and  it  Avas  not  difficult  for  the 
Cardinal  and  the  Duke,  both  of  them  aspiring  and  adroit 

1  Michelet,  Guerres  de  Relic/ion,  p.  43. 

2  Anquetil  strives  to  paint  Catharine,  in  some  points,  in  a  less  unfavorable 
light.  L' 'Esprit  de  hi  Ligue,  i.  54.  She  is  characterized  by  the  Due  d'Aumale 
as  being  "without  affections,  without  principles,  and  without  scruples."  His- 
tory of  the  Princes  of  Conde,  i.  86. 

17 


258  THE   REFORMATION   IN   FRANCE. 

men,  with  the  aid  of  the  vigorous  and  beautiful  young 
Queen,  to  maintain  a  complete  ascendency  over  him. 
The  Cardinal  was  supreme  in  the  affairs  of  State,  the 
Duke  in  the  military  department.  It  was  an  association 
of  the  soldier  and  the  diplomatist,  the  lion  and  the  fox, 
for  their  common  aggrandizement.  The  Guises  set  them- 
selves up  as  the  champions  of  the  old  religion,  although 
they  at  first  adopted  the  policy  of  withstanding  Charles 
V.  through  an  alliance  with  the  Pope.  They  had  large 
hopes  of  acquiring  power  in  Italy,  and  assumed  to  inherit 
the  claim  of  the  house  of  Anjou  to  Naples.  On  the  ac- 
cession of  Francis  their  first  step  was  to  induce  the  King 
to  give  a  courteous  dismissal  to  the  Grand  Constable, 
Montmorenci,  who,  with  his  numerous  relatives,  had  been 
the  rivals  of  the  Guises  and  had  shared  with  them  the 
offices  and  honors  of  the  kingdom.  It  was  by  the  sup- 
port of  Diana  of  Poitiers,  one  of  whose  daughters  had 
married  their  brother,  that  the  Guises  were  enabled  first 
to  make  themselves  the  equals  and  then  the  superiors  of 
Montmorenci,  whom  they  greatly  outstripped  in  political 
sagacity.1 

It  was  not  to  be  expected  that  the  great  nobles  of 
France  would  quietly  see  the  control  of  the  government 
practically  usurped  by  persons  whom  they  considered  up- 
starts, who  had  seized  on  places  that  did  not  belong  to 
them  by  the  laws  and  customs  of  the  realm.  The  oppo- 
sition to  the  Guises  centered  in  two  families,  the  houses 
of  Bourbon  and  Chatillon.  The  three  brothers  of  the 
former  house  were  princes  of  the  blood,  being  descended 
by  a  collateral  line  from  Louis  IX.  Anthony  of  Ven- 
dome,  the  eldest,  who  by  his  marriage  with  Jeanne  d'Al- 
bret,  the  daughter  of  Margaret,  wore  the  title  of  King  of 
Navarre,  had  been  moved  to  take  the  side  of  the  Protes- 
tants, but  was  a  man  of  weak  and  vacillating  character. 
He  had  no  loftier  hope  than  to  get  back  from  Spain  his 

1  Henri  Martin,  viii.  362. 


THE   HUGUENOTS   A   POLITICAL   PARTY.  259 

principality  of  Navarre,  or  to  provide  himself  with  an 
equivalent  dominion  elsewhere.  The  second  brother, 
Charles,  the  Cardinal  of  Rouen,  was  of  a  similar  temper- 
ament. The  third,  Louis,  Prince  of  Conde\  was  a  brave 
man,  not  without  noble  qualities,  but  rash  in  counsel,  and 
not  proof  against  the  enticements  of  sensual  pleasure. 
The  Protestant  wives  of  these  men,  the  Queen  of  Navarre 
and  the  Princess  of  Conde*,  a  niece  of  the  Constable,  had 
more  firmness  of  religious  conviction  than  their  husbands. 
The  three  brothers  of  the  house  of  Chatillon,  sons  of 
Louisa  of  Montmorenci,  the  sister  of  the  Constable,  were 
men  of  a  nobler  make.  These  were  Odet,  Cardinal  of 
Chatillon,  Admiral  Coligny,  and  Dandelot,  Colonel  of  the 
Cisalpine  infantry.  Coligny  had  acquired  great  credit  by 
introducing  strict  discipline  into  the  French  infantry,  and 
by  valor  at  St.  Quentin  and  elsewhere.  In  all  the  quali- 
ties of  mind  and  character  that  constitute  human  great- 
ness, he  was  without  a  peer.  His  attachment  to  the 
Protestant  cause  was  sincere  and  immovable. 

That  the  Bourbons  and  the  great  nobles  who  were  con- 
nected with  them  should  seek  the  support  of  the  perse- 
cuted Calvinists,  and  that  the  latter,  in  turn,  should  seek 
for  deliverance  through  them,  was  natural.1  The  Guises 
were  virtual  usurpers,  who  had  taken  the  station  that  be- 
longed to  the  princes  of  the  blood,  and,  at  the  same  time, 
were  persecutors.  The  nobles,  their  antagonists,  and  their 
Protestant  co-religionists  had  a  common  cause.  There 
was  a  union  of  political  and  religious  motives  to  bind 
them  all  together.  If  political  considerations  had  a  gov- 
erning weight  with  Anthony  of  Navarre  and  some  other 
leaders,  this  was  the  misfortune,  and  a  heavy  misfortune 
it  proved,  of  the  Huguenots ;  but  it  was  not  their  fault. 
While  it  is  vain  to  ignore  the  influence  of  political 
aspirations,  it  is  a  greater  error  of  some  writers,  like 
Davila,  to  ascribe  the  whole  movement  of  the  Huguenot 

i  Ranke,  i.  154. 


260  THE   REFORMATION  IN  FRANCE. 

leaders  to  motives  of  this  character.1  There  was  on  their 
part  a  thorough  opposition  to  the  cruel  persecution  of  the 
Calvinists,  and  an  attachment  to  their  cause,  which,  if  it 
was  inconstant  in  some  cases,  proved  in  others  a  profound 
and  growing  conviction,  such  as  no  terrors  and  no  sacrifices 
could  weaken. 

Calvin,  like  the  Lutheran  reformers,  preached  the  doc- 
trine of  obedience  to  rulers,  and  uncomplaining  submission 
to  suffering  and  death.2  For  forty  years  the  unoffending 
Huguenots  had  acted  on  this  principle  and  submitted  to 
indescribable  indignities  and  cruelties,  inflicted  often  by 
men  who  in  their  own  daily  lives  violated  every  command- 
ment of  the  decalogue.  But  even  Calvin  held  that  Chris- 
tians might  lawfully  take  up  arms,  under  authorized 
leaders,  to  overthrow  usurpation.  We  shall  see,  more- 
over, that  it  was  the  unchecked  atrocities,  not  of  magis- 
trates, but  of  their  subjects,  acting  without  color  of  law, 
that  kindled  the  flames  of  civil  war.  But  in  France,  as 
in  Germany,  during  this  period,  the  reluctance  of  the 
Protestants  to  abandon  the  ground  of  passive  resistance 
and  to  rise  against  their  oppressors,  the  indecision  of  the 
Protestants  on  this  question,  more  than  once  cost  them 
dear. 

The  conspiracy  of  Amboise  was  a  plot,  of  which  a  French 
gentleman,  La  Renaudie,  was  the  most  active  contriver, 
to  dispossess  the  Guises  of  their  position  by  force  and  to 

1  Davila  [Storia  delle  Guerre  Cirili  di  Fvancia)  describes  a  formal  meeting  in 
Vendome,  at  which  Conde  and  others  advocated  an  open  war.  but  Ooligny 
persuaded  them  to  adopt  a  more  crafty  policy.  Davila  makes  the  conspiracy 
of  Amboi.se  the  result  of  this  conference.  But  it  is  not  credible  that  such  a 
conference  was  ever  held.  See  the  searching  criticism  of  Davila  by  Ranks, 
Franz.  Gt  schichte,  v.  :>  seq. 

2  See  Henry,  iii.  548,  and  Beil.,  p.  l-r)4  seq.  Speaking  of  the  counsel  which 
he  gave  in  reference  to  the  Amboise  conspiracy,  Calvin  says :  "Cependant  les 
lamentations  estoyent  grandes  de  I'inhumanite'  quon  exereoit  pour  abolir  la 
religion:  mesme  d'heure  en  heure  on  attendoit  une  horrible  boucheriej  pour 
exterminer  tons  les  povres  fideles."  He  say.-,  thai  he  replied,  that  if  a  single 
drop  of  blood  were  shed,  rivers  of  blood  would  flow  over  Europe;  moreover, 
that  it  is  better  "  for  us  all  to  perish  a  hundred  times,  than  that  the  name  of  the 
adherents  of  the  Gospel  should  bo  exposed  to  such  opprobrium." 


THE   EDICT    OF   ROMORANTIN.  261 

place  the  control  of  the  government  in  the  hands  of  the 
princes  of  the  blood.  Cond6  appears  to  have  been  privy 
to  it.  Coligny  refused  to  take  part  in  it ;  Calvin  tried  to 
dissuade  La  Renaudie  from  executing  his  project,  which 
the  Reformer  sternly  disapproved,  unless  the  princes  of 
the  blood,  not  Conde  alone,  but  the  first  of  them  in  rank, 
were  to  sanction  it,  and  Parliament  were  to  join  with 
them.1  The  Guises  were  forewarned  and  forearmed,  and 
took  a  savage  revenge,  not  only  upon  the  conspirators,  but 
upon  a  great  number  of  innocent  Protestants,  whom  the 
conspirators  had  invited  to  the  court  to  present  their 
petitions,  but  who  had  no  further  complicity  in  the 
undertaking  (1560). 

The  commotion  of  which  this  abortive  scheme  was  an 
impressive  sign,  had  the  effect  to  moderate  for  the  mo- 
ment the  policy  of  the  Cardinal.  The  prisons  were 
opened  and  the  Protestants  set  at  liberty.  The  Edict  of 
Romorantin,  in  1560,  still  forbade  all  Protestant  assem- 
blies for  worship,  but  proceedings  against  individuals  on 
account  of  their  faith  were  to  be  dropped.  The  tares,  it 
was  said,  had  become  too  strong  to  be  eradicated  from  the 
field.  The  Protestants  made  an  appeal  for  liberty  to 
meet  together  for  worship.     Their  petition   was  boldly 

1  See  Calvin's  letter,  cited  above,  on  the  subject  (April  16,  1501),  in  Henry, 
iii.  21;  Beil.,  p.  153.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  La  Renaudie  represented 
Conde  to  be  the  silent  leader  of  the  enterprise.  That  he  was  is  generally  as- 
sumed, and  probably  with  truth.  Henri  Martin,  viii.  34  seq.  Sismondi,  His- 
toire  des  Francais,  xviii.  132.  Due  d'Aumale,  History  of  the  Princes  of  Conde, 
i.  56.  It  is  so  stated  by  Beza,  Histoire  d' Fylises  Ref,  i.  250.  Ranke  says: 
"Mit  historischer  Bestimnitheit  liisst  sich  selbst  nicht  sagen  ob  La  Renaudie 
sich  mit  Conde"  verabredet  hatte."  (i.  147.)  Ranke  adverts  to  the  denial  of 
Conde;  but  he  only  denied  that  he  had  been  a  party  in  any  enterprise,  against 
the  King  or  the  State.  He  would  not  have  admitted  that  the  Conspiracy  of  Am- 
boise  was  directed  against  either.  See  Mrs.  Marsh's  interesting  work.  The  Prot. 
Ref.  in  France  (London,  1847),  i.  142,  n.  Brantome,  who  rises  to  something 
like  enthusiasm  in  praising  the  virtues  of  Coligny,  says  that  the  conspirators  were 
prevented  by  his  known  probity  and  sense  of  honor  from  imparting  to  him  their 
secret.  Les  Homines  Illustres,  1.  in.  xx.  (M.  1 'Admiral  de  Chastillon).  Bran- 
tome  compares  Coligny  and  Guise,  as  lapidaries  (he  says)  place  together  two 
diamonds  ef  exquisite  beauty. 


262  THE   REFORMATION   IN   FRANCE. 

presented  to  the  King  in  an  Assembly  of  Notables  at 
Fontainebleau  by  Coligny,  wlio  had  espoused,  but  not  yet 
publicly  professed,  the  new  opinions.  At  the  same  time, 
a  demand  was  made  for  a  meeting  of  the  States  General, 
to  consider  the  finances  of  the  kingdom,  and  for  a  National 
Council  to  regulate  the  affairs  of  religion.  The  Cardinal 
was  obliged  to  acquiesce.  The  Guises  now  exerted  all 
their  influence  to  combine  an  overwhelming  party  against 
the  Protestants  and  the  Bourbon  princes.  Calvin  ad- 
hered to  his  principle  and  discountenanced  all  violence  on 
the  side  of  the  Protestants,  who  were  inclined  to  take 
possession  of  churches ;  but  he  sought  to  persuade  the 
princes  to  collect  the  nobles  of  Provence,  Languedoc, 
and  Normandy,  and  make  such  a  demonstration  as  would 
of  itself,  without  bloodshed,  break  down  the  power  of 
their  antagonists.  The  frivolous  Anthony  of  Navarre 
was  not  equal  to  so  manly  an  undertaking.  Summoned 
by  the  court  to  Orleans,  he  went  with  Conde.  They 
went,  aware  of  the  peril  in  which  they  placed  themselves, 
and  in  opposition  to  the  advice  of  their  friends  and  the 
entreaties  of  their  wives.  Conde  was  put  under  arrest, 
on  the  charge  of  complicity  in  the  Amboise  Conspiracy. 
The  King  of  Navarre  was  deprived  of  his  officers  and 
guards,  and  surrounded  with  soldiers  and  spies.  The 
Deputies  of  the  Estates,  as  they  arrived,  found  everything 
in  the  hands  of  the  Cardinal ;  and  were  to  be  compelled, 
at  the  outset,  to  sign  a  Catholic  creed.  The  same  test 
was  to  be  presented  to  the  chevaliers  of  the  Order  of  St. 
Michael,  the  French  cardinals,  the  prelates,  the  nobles, 
and  the  royal  officers  present  at  Orleans.  The  laymen 
who  should  refuse  to  sign  this  formulary  wen1  to  be  de- 
prived of  all  their  <>Hk;es  and  estates,  and  the  next  day 
sent  to  the  stake.  Keclesiasties  were  to  be  remanded  to 
their  own  order  for  trial  and  judgment.  It  was  expected 
that  Coligny  and  Dandelot,  and  probably  their  brother, 
the  Cardinal,  would  be  involved  in  this  destruction  of  the 


THE   ACCESSION   OF   CHARLES   IX.  263 

Protestant  leaders.  The  same  creed  was  to  be  imposed 
on  all  officials  and  pastors  throughout  the  kingdom,  and 
the  requirement  was  to  be  enforced  by  bodies  of  soldiers, 
who  were  to  march  through  the  land.  The  dominion  of 
the  Catholic  Church  was  to  be  at  once  established.  The 
Guises  pushed  forward,  with  all  possible  rapidity,  the 
process  against  Conde,  who  was  charged  with  high  trea- 
son.1 He  was  condemned,  and  the  10th  of  December  was 
the  day  fixed  for  his  execution.  Just  then,  on  the  5th  of 
December,  1560,  the  young  King  suddenly  died.  Once 
more  the  Protestants  felt  that  an  interposition  of  Provi- 
dence had  saved  them.  "  When  all  was  lost,"  said  Beza, 
"  behold  the  Lord  our  God  awoke  !  " 

The  opportunity  of  the  Queen  Mother  had  come  at 
last.  The  question  whether  her  second  son,  Charles  IX., 
was  in  his  minority,  could  not  be  doubtful.  She  assumed 
the  practical  guardianship  of  him,  and  with  it  a  virtual 
regenc}^.  The  plan  of  the  Guises  to  crush  the  house  of 
Bourbon,  and  their  supporters,  by  a  single  blow,  had 
failed.  L'Hospital  easily  convinced  the  Queen  that  it 
was  for  her  interest  to  liberate  Conde,  and  to  put  a  check 
upon  the  power  of  the  opposite  party,  which  had  barely 
failed  of  attaining  to  absolute  control.  The  Duke  was 
too  wise  to  attempt  to  retain  the  supremacy,  which  the 
Cardinal,  his  brother,  was  not  disposed  to  relinquish.  The 
King  of  Navarre  became  Lieutenant-general.     The  Con- 

1  That  the  existence  of  this  plot  was  credited  by  the  Huguenot  leaders  ad 
inits  of  no  doubt.  For  the  evidence  of  its  reality,  which  appears  to  be  sufficient, 
see  Henri  Martin,  ix.  54.  n.  Ranke  says:  "  Ich  habe  manches  gefunden,  wo- 
durch  diese  Behauptungen  "  — the  reports  of  the  conspiracy —  "  bestiitigt,  nichts 
wodurch  sie  ganz  ausser  Zweifel  gesetzt  warden."  i.  15G.  Martin  says:  "The 
authenticity  of  the  plot,  as  to  its  substance,  is  not  doubtful.  The  Guises  sent  as 
far  as  Turkey  to  induce  the  Sultan  not  to  hinder,  by  any  diversion  against  the 
Austrian  States,  the  work  of  the  destruction  of  heretics.  The  interminable 
discussions  as  to  the  premeditation  of  St.  Bartholomew,  interesting  from  a  his- 
torical point  of  view,  are  extremely  vain  from  the  moral  point  of  view.  The 
St.  Bartholomew  —  that  is  to  say,  the  extermination  of  the  heretics  by  force, 
open  or  with  the  aid  of  stratagem  —  had  always  been  in  the  heart  of  the  chiefs  of 
the  persecuting  party.    They  massacred,  when  they  could,  just  as  they  burned." 


264  THE   REFORMATION  IN   FRANCE. 

stable  Montmorenci  recovered  the  direction  of  military 
affairs,  but  the  Guises  kept  their  places  in  the  Council, 
and  Duke  Francis  retained  the  post  of  master  of  the 
royal  household.  The  Huguenots,  as  they  came  to  be 
called,1  were  powerful  in  numbers,  and  still  more  in  the 
character  of  their  party.  Entire  counties  were  almost 
wholly  Protestant.  They  were  strong  among  the  nobles 
and  educated  class.  Many  rich  merchants  adhered  to 
them.  But  their  largest  support  was  from  the  intelligent 
middle  classes,  the  artisans  in  the  cities ;  although  not  a 
few  of  the  lower  orders,  who  had  seen  the  world,  and 
were  practiced  in  bearing  arms,  were  in  the  Huguenot 
ranks.  In  a  representation  made  to  the  Pope,  in  1561, 
by  the  middle  party  of  French  prelates,  it  was  stated 
that  a  quarter  of  the  entire  population  of  the  kingdom 
were  Protestants.  That  it  would  be  impracticable  to 
exterminate  them,  and  that  both  parties  should  make  up 
their  minds  to  live  together  in  peace,  was  the  conviction 
of  a  few  dispassionate  and  far-sighted  men,  among  whom 
was  the  Chancellor  L'Hospital,  who  had  been  called  to 
his  office  after  the  Conspiracy  of  Amboise,  and  who  put 
forth  his  best  exertions  to  recommend  this  wise  and  hu- 
mane policy.  His  tolerant  views  were  reflected  in  edicts 
of  the  States  General  at  Orleans,  where,  also,  sound  re- 
forms were  adopted  in  the  administration  of  justice  ;  but 
these  measures  were  resisted  by  Parliament,  and  by  the 
Catholics  attached  to  the  Guises.  The  Duke  of  Guise 
was  joined  by  Montmorenci ;  and  they,  with  the  Marshal 

1  Beza  explains  the  origin  of  the  name  Huguenots  (i.  269).  At  Tours  there 
was  a  superstitious  belief  that  the  ghost  of  Hugh  Capet  roamed  through  the 
city  at  night.  As  the  Protestants  held  their  meetings  in  the  night,  they  were 
derisively  called  Huguenots,  as  if  they  were  the  troop  of  King  Hugh.  As  the 
Conspiracy  of  Amboise  was  discovered  at  Tours,  this  name  at  that  time  ob- 
tained currency.  This  explanation  is  given  by  De  Thou,  lxxiv.  741.  Other 
■writers,  among  them  Merle  d'Aubigne"  (i.  88),  derive  it  from  Eidgenots,  the 
name  given  to  the  party  of  freedom  at  Geneva,  who  were  for  an  alliance  with 
the  Swiss.  Martin  (viii.  28)  unites  both  explanations.  Littre  (Diet.  Francaise) 
adopts  neither,  but  connects  the  term  with  the  name  of  a  person. 


THE   COLLOQUY    AT   POISSY.  265 

of  Saint  Andre*,  formed  the  Triumvirate  with  which  the 
feeble  King  of  Navarre  was  unequally  matched.  Strife 
arose  in  the  Council,  between  the  two  parties.  It  was 
arranged,  much  to  the  joy  of  the  Protestants,  that  a  great 
religious  conference  should  be  held  at  Poissy  to  see  if  the 
two  parties  could  come  to  an  agreement.  In  this  measure 
the  Cardinal  of  Lorraine  concurred,  in  the  expectation  that 
he  should  be  able  to  bring  out  the  differences  between  the 
Calvinists  and  the  Lutherans,  and  deprive  the  former  of 
their  natural  allies  in  the  event  of  a  religious  war,  which 
he  probably  anticipated.  The  elections  from  the  nobility 
and  the  third  estate  for  the  States  General,  which  first  as- 
sembled, in  1561,  at  Pontoise,  and  afterwards  adjourned 
to  Poissy,  were  extremely  unfavorable  to  the  Guise  fac- 
tion. This  meeting  was  really  a  crisis  in  the  history  of 
France.1  The  noblesse  and  the  commonalty  were  united 
against  the  clergy,  and  presented  measures  of  constitu- 
tional reform  of  a  startling  character,  such,  had  they 
been  carried  through,  as  would  have  brought  the  French 
system  of  government  into  a  striking  resemblance  to  that 
of  England,  would  have  carried  the  nation  along  in  one 
path,  and  prevented  the  civil  wars.  The  Pope,  the 
clergy,  and  the  King  of  Spain,  united  in  efforts  to  stem 
the  prevailing  current  toAvards  compromise  or  peace  be- 
tween the  opposing  confessions.  But  the  religious  collo- 
quy was  held.  It  Avas  in  the  autumn  of  1561.  In  the 
great  Refectory  of  the  Benedictines  at  Poissy,  the  young 
King  sat  in  the  midst  of  the  aristocracy  of  France  — 
Catharine  de  Medici,  the  King  of  Navarre,  and  the  Prince 
of  Conde,  the  great  lords  and  ladies  of  the  Court,  cardi- 
nals, bishops,  and  abbots,  doctors  of  the  Sorbonne,  and 
a  numerous  company  of  lesser  nobles,  with  their  wives 
and  daughters.  In  this  brilliant  concourse,  Theodore 
Beza  appeared  at  the  head  of  the  preachers  and  elders 
deputed  by  the  Huguenots  to  represent  their  cause,  and 

i  Ranke,  i.  164,  165.    Henri  Martin,  ix.  93. 


266  THE   REFORMATION    IN   FRANCE. 

eloquently  set  forth  the  doctrines  of  the  party  of  reform. 
Beza  was  a  man  of  high  birth,  of  prepossessing  appear- 
ance, of  graceful  and  polished  manners,  who  was  at  his 
ease  in  the  society  of  the  court,  and,  prior  to  the  public 
conference,  won  the  respect  and  favor  of  many  of  his  au- 
ditors by  his  attractiveness  in  social  intercourse.1  It  was 
something  gained  for  Protestantism,  when  such  a  man, 
with  whom  there  could  be  no  reluctance  to  associate  on 
equal  terms,  was  seen  to  come  forward  in  its  defense. 
But  Beza,  besides  being  an  impressive  speaker,  was  an 
erudite  scholar,  with  his  learning  so  perfectly  at  command, 
that  he  could  not  be  perplexed  by  his  adversaries.  At 
one  time  there  was  some  prospect  of  an  agreement,  even 
in  a  general  definition  of  the  Eucharist.  The  final  result 
of  the  interviews,  public  and  private,  that  took  place  in 
connection  with  the  conference,  was  to  convince  both 
parties  that  no  compromise  on  the  points  of  theological 
difference  was  practicable. 

On  the  17th  of  January,  1562,  was  issued  the  impor- 
tant Edict  of  St.  Germain.  It  gave  up  the  policy,  which 
had  been  pursued  for  forty  years,  of  extirpating  religious 
dissent.  It  granted  a  measure  of  toleration.  The  Prot- 
estants were  to  surrender  churches  of  which  they  had 
taken  possession  and  were  to  build  no  more.  On  the 
other  hand,  they  might,  until  further  order  should  be 
taken,  hold  their  religious  meetings  outside  of  the  walls 
of  cities,  by  daylight,  without  arms  in  their  hands  ;  and 
their  meetings  were  to  be  protected  by  the  police.  They 
were  to  pay  regard  to  the  festival  days  of  the  Catholic 
Church,  were  to  assemble  no  consistories  or  synods  with- 
out permission,  were  not  to  enter  into  any  military  organ- 
ization or  levy  taxes  upon  one  another,  and  were  to  teach 
according  to  the  Scriptures,  without  insulting  the  mass  and 
other  Catholic  institutions.    It  was  a  restricted  toleration, 

1  Beza's  letter  to  Calvin  (August  25.  1561),  describing  his  introduction  to  the 
Court,  is  given  by  the  Due  d'Aumale,  i.  App.  p.  271. 


BEGINNING   OF   THE   CIVIL    WARS.  267 

but  the  practice  had  been  to  give  to  edicts  of  this  na- 
ture some  latitude  of  construction.  •  Calvin  rejoiced  in  it, 
and  the  Calvinists  felt  that  under  it  they  could  convert 
the  nation  to  the  Protestant  faith.  But  the  e^lict  was 
not  long  observed.  The  papal  legate  and  the  Catholic 
chiefs  succeeded  in  inducing  the  King  of  Navarre  to  aban- 
don  the  Protestant  cause.  He  was  told  that  the  Pope 
would  annul  his  marriage,  and  that  he  could  then  wed 
Mary,  the  young  Queen  of  Scotland.  He  was  not  base 
enough  to  countenance  this  proposal.1  The  throne  of 
Sardinia  was  held  out  to  him  as  a  compensation  for  the 
loss  of  Navarre.  The  only  hope  for  the  success  of  the 
tolerant  policy  of  L'Hospital  had  rested  in  the  union  of 
the  Queen  Mother  with  the  princes  of  the  blood;  and 
this  union  was  now  broken. 

The  leaders  of  the  Catholic  party  wTere  resolved  not  to 
acquiesce  in  a  policy  of  toleration,  not  to  give  up  the  idea 
of  obtaining  uniformity  by  coercion.  The  massacre  of 
Vassy  was  the  event  that  occasioned  war.  On  Sunday 
morning,  the  first  of  March,  1562,  the  Duke  of  Guise  ar- 
rived at  the  village  of  Vassy  on  his  way  to  Paris,  at  the 
head  of  a  retinue  of  several  hundred  nobles  and  soldiers. 
The  Protestants  were  holding  their  religious  service  in  a 
spacious  barn.  Thither  he  sent  some  of  his  men,  who 
provoked  a  conflict.  The  rest  of  the  troop  came  to  the 
spot,  tore  off  the  door,  and  with  guns  and  sabres  slaugh- 
tered and  wounded  a  large  number  of  the  unarmed,  de- 
fenseless congregation,  and  plundered  their  houses.  Guise 
looked  on  and  did  not  hinder  the  work.  In  fact,  he  had 
come  to  the  town  with  the  design  of  putting  an  end  to 
the  Huguenot  worship  there.2  Their  preacher,  bleeding 
from  his  wounds,  he  carried  off  as  a  prisoner.  The  Duke 
was  received,  especially  in  Paris,  witli  acclamations.  The 
Protestants  throughout  France  justly  considered  his  deed 
a  wanton  and  atrocious  violation  of  the  Religious  Peace, 

1  Due  d'Auinale,  i.  88.  2  Henri  Martin,  ix.  113. 


268  THE   REFORMATION  IN  FRANCE. 

and  flew  to  arms.  In  every  parish  a  crusade  was  preached 
against  the  Huguenots,  and  the  scenes  of  cruelty  that  fol- 
lowed have  been  styled,  by  a  French  historian,  the  St. 
Bartholomew  of  1562.  The  Triumvirs  seized  the  persons 
of  the  Queen  Mother  and  the  King,  and,  either  with  or 
without  their  consent,  conveyed  them  to  Paris,  where  the 
whole  population  were  full  of  hatred  to  the  heretics.  An- 
other massacre  at  Sens,  even  more  cruel  than  that  of 
Vassy,  was  the  signal  for  an  outburst  of  iconoclastic  fury 
on  the  side  of  the  Huguenots,  which  was  attended  with  a 
great  destruction  of  monuments  of  art  and  the  profanation 
of  sepulchres.  It  was  true  of  the  Huguenots  that,  "  less 
barbarous,  in  general,  than  their  adversaries,  toward  men, 
their  rage  was  implacable  against  things" —  against  what- 
ever they  considered  objects  or  signs  of  idolatry.1 

Thus  began  the  series  of  terrible  wars,  which  only  ter- 
minated with  the  accession  of  Henry  IV.  to  the  throne. 
In  the  devastation  which  they  caused  they  may  be  com- 
pared to  the  Thirty  Years'  War  in  Germany.  France 
was  a  prey  to  religious  and  political  fanaticism.  The 
passions  that  are  always  kindled  in  civil  wars  were  made 
the  more  fierce  from  the  religious  consecration  which  was 
imparted  to  them.  Other  nations,  as  was  inevitable, 
mingled  in  the  frightful  contest,  and  France  had  well-nigh 
lost  its  independence.  It  must  be  admitted  that  the 
Huguenots  acted  in  self-defense.  As  we  have  said,  their 
connection  with  a  political  party,  whatever  evils  were  in- 
cidental to  it,  was  the  unavoidable  result  of  the  course 
taken  by  their  antagonists,  who  attacked  at  once  the 
Protestant  religion  and  the  rights  of  the  princes  who  pro- 
fessed it.  But  it  was  private  violence  countenanced  by 
the  authorities,  against  which  the  Huguenots  rose  in  arms. 
Agrippa  d'Aubign^,  the  Huguenot  historian  of  the  six- 
teenth century,  says  :  "  It  is  to  be  forever  observed,  that 
as  long  as  they  put  the  reformed  to  death  under  the  forms  of 

1  Henri  Martin,  ix.  124. 


THE   EDICT    OF    AMBOISE.  269 

justice,  however  iniquitous  and  cruel  it  was,  they  stretched 
out  their  necks,  but  not  their  hands  ;  but  when  the  public 
authority,  the  magistrates,  weary  of  their  burnings,  threw 
the  knife  into  the  hands  of  the  crowd,  and  by  tumults  and 
great  massacres  took  away  the  venerable  face  of  justice, 
and  caused  neighbor  to  be  slain  by  neighbor  to  the  sound 
of  trumpets  and  drums,  who  could  prevent  the  miserable 
victims  from  opposing  arm  to  arm,  steel  to  steel,  and  from 
taking  the  contagion  of  a  just  fury  from  a  fury  without 
justice  ?  .  .  .  .  Let  foreign  nations  judge  whether  we  or 
our  enemies  have  the  guilt  of  w^ar  upon  the  forehead."  1 

Rouen  was  captured  by  the  Catholics  and  sacked.  There 
the  King  of  Navarre,  fighting  on  the  Catholic  side,  re- 
ceived a  mortal  wound.  In  the  battle  of  Dreux,  the 
Protestants,  led  by  Coligny  and  Conde,  were  worsted,  but 
their  power  was  not  broken.  Shortly  after,  the  Duke  of 
Guise,  who  was  endeavoring  to  take  Orldans,  was  assas- 
sinated by  a  Huguenot  nobleman.  The  act  was  con- 
demned by  Calvin,  nor  had  it  the  sanction  of  any  of  the 
Protestant  leaders,  however  they  may  have  refrained  from 
exerting  themselves  to  hinder  it.  Coligny  declared  that 
he  had  prevented  the  execution  of  similar  plots  before, 
that  he  had  no  agency  in  this,  but  that  for  the  six  months 
previous,  from  the  time  when  he  had  heard  that  the  Duke 
and  his  brother,  the  Cardinal,  had  formed  the  design  to 
destroy  him  and  his  family,  he  had  ceased  to  exert  him- 
self to  save  the  Duke.  A  year  after  the  massacre  of 
Vassy,  the  Edict  of  Amboise  reestablished  peace  on  terms 
more  favorable  to  the  high  nobles  on  the  Protestant  side 
than  the  preceding  edict,  but  less  favorable  to  the  smaller 
gentry  and  to  the  towns,  inasmuch  as  they  were  allowed 
but  a  single  place  of  worship  in  a  district  or  bailliage. 
Paris  was  excepted  :  there  Protestant  worship  was  not  to 
be   tolerated.      The    capital   became  more    and   more  a. 

1  Agrippa  d'Aubign&   ffist.   Unicerselle  (1616-18).     G.  de  Felice,  Hist,  des 
Protestants  de  France,  p.  160. 


270  THE   REFORMATION  IN   FRANCE. 

stronghold  of  Catholic  fanaticism.  The  settlement  was 
negotiated  by  Conde*,  but  Coligny  refused  to  give  his 
sanction  to  its  provisions,  which  were  most  unacceptable 
to  the  body  of  the  Protestants,  who  were  confident  that 
better  terms  might  have  been  made. 

This  pacification  could  not  be  of  long  endurance.  The 
Huguenots  saw  from  the  threatening  attitude  of  the 
court  and  the  hostile  movements  of  their  adversaries  that 
there  was  no  intention  to  observe  it.  They  anticipated 
the  attack  by  themselves  resorting  to  arms  ;  a  measure 
which  the  leaders  felt  obliged  to  adopt,  though  not  with- 
out grave  misgivings.  They  extorted  the  Peace  of  Long- 
jumeau  (1568),  which,  however,  reestablished  substan- 
tially the  Edict  of  Pacification.  Conde's  lack  of  judgment 
was  hardly  less  conspicuous  than  his  valor  in  the  field.1 

Charles  IX.  was  filled  with  chagrin  and  indignation  at 
being  driven  to  make  an  accommodation  with  his  subjects 
in  arms.  The  bitter  animosity  of  the  Catholics  through 
the  country  was  stirred  up  against  the  Huguenots.  But 
a  few  months  before,  the  Duke  of  Alva  had  executed 
Egmont  and  Horn  in  the  Netherlands.  At  Bayonne, 
where  Alva  had  met  the  Queen  Mother  and  her  daughter, 
Elizabeth  of  Spain,  he  had  spared  no  pains  to  induce  the 
French  court  to  proceed  to  extreme  measures  against  the 
Huguenots.  But  the  young  King  was  then  averse  to  the 
renewal  of  the  Avar  and  to  a  resort  to  cruel  persecution, 
and  the  Queen  Mother  refused  to  give  way  to  Alva's  per- 
suasions.2 Her  aim  was  to  balance  the  parties  against 
each  other,  so  that  neither  of  them  could  be  in  a  position 
to  endanger  her  own  power.  The  words  of  Alva,  how- 
ever, made  a  stronger  impression  on  Montpensier,  Mont- 
luc,  and  other  Catholic  nobles.  The  last  conflict,  which 
the  Huguenots  had  begun,  had  exasperated  all  who  were 

1  The  Due  d'Aumale,  who  defends  the  Edict  of  Amboise,  admits  that  in  this 
last  treaty  Condi  made  a  false  step,  and  adds:  "It  must  be  allowed  that  his 
heart  was  larger  than  his  intellect."     i.  2G4. 

*  The  usual  opposite  representation  is  corrected  by  Ranke,  i.  193. 


TREATY    OF    ST.  GERMAIN.  271 

not  of  their  party.  The  Catholic  counter-reformation 
was  in  progress,  and  Jesuit  preachers  inflamed  the  anger 
of  the  Catholic  population.  Philip  and  Alva  renewed 
their  efforts,  which  were  seconded  by  the  Cardinal  of  Lor- 
raine in  the  Council.  The  Huguenots,  the  king  was  told, 
were  rebels  ;  if  they  were  not  subdued  he  could  not  be 
the  ruler  of  the  land.  Thus  war  was  once  more  renewed, 
under  Spanish  influence  and  cooperation.  The  Hugue- 
nots were  now  in  arms  to  defend  their  liberties  against  a 
perfidious  conspiracy.  The  Prince  of  Conde  and  the  Ad- 
miral Coligny  had  found  safety  in  Rochelle,  the  town 
which  often  proved  the  bulwark  of  the  Protestant  cause, 
and  more  than  once  saved  it  from  fatal  disaster.  The 
Edict  of  Pacification  was  annulled.  The  Huguenots  were 
beaten  at  Jarnac  in  1569,  where  Conde  fell,  leaving  his 
name  to  his  eldest  son  Henry,  a  youth  of  seventeen  ;  and 
the  same  year  they  were  defeated  again  at  Mon contour. 
Now  Rochelle  proved  its  value  to  the  Protestants,  who, 
under  Coligny,  successfully  defended  the  city  against  the 
victorious  enemy. 

It  seems  strange  that  the  court  should  have  been  in- 
clined to  make  peace  at  this  time.  But  the  war  was  not 
like  the  former  contests,  a  local  one.  It  was  a  general 
war,  in  which  foreign  nations  were  concerned.  The 
Huguenots  were  aided  by  money  from  England  and  troops 
from  Germany.  When  they  had  been  shut  up  in  Rochelle, 
where  the  Queen  of  Navarre  held  her  court,  they  fitted 
out  a  small  fleet  which  they  used  with  much  effect  along 
the  coast.  It  was  a  characteristic  of  Coligny  that,  though 
often  beaten  in  the  field,  he  was  able,  after  defeat,  to  keep 
together  his  forces  and  resume  hostilities.  He  was  soon 
strong  enough  to  sally  forth  from  Rochelle  and  to  trav- 
erse France  at  the  head  of  a  body  of  three  thousand 
horse,  the  most  of  whom  were  Germans,  and  whose  pro- 
gress, especially  as  it  was  known  that  the  young  princes, 
Navarre  and  Conde*,  were  among  them,  awakened  enthu- 


272  THE   REFORMATION  IN   FRANCE. 

siasm  wherever  they  appeared.  The  perseverance  of  the 
Huguenots  and  their  continued  strength,  unexhausted  by 
defeat,  constituted  one  of  the  arguments  for  peace.  Jeal- 
ousy of  Spain  was  the  other.  The  ambition  of  Philip  ex- 
cited alarm  among  the  French.  He  had  a  scheme  for 
effecting  the  liberation  of  Mary  Queen  of  Scots  and  of  mar- 
rying her  to  Don  John  of  Austria,  his  half-brother,  by 
which  he  hoped  to  bring  Scotland,  and  ultimately  Eng- 
land, under  Spanish  control.  He  proposed  to  marry  his 
sister  to  the  young  King  of  France.  If  these  plans  should 
be  carried  out,  England,  Scotland,  France,  and  the  Nether- 
lands might,  like  Italy,  be  made  subordinate  to  Spain. 
It  was  felt,  moreover,  that  he  was  taking  part  in  the  war 
against  the  Huguenots  mainly  to  promote  his  selfish  in- 
terest, and  that  he  rendered  less  assistance  than  the  enemy 
gained  from  their  German  allies.  The  court,  in  1570, 
agreed  to  the  treaty  of  St.  Germain,  by  which  the  pro- 
visions of  the  Edict  of  Pacification  were  revived,  and  four 
fortified  towns,  of  which  Rochelle  was  one,  were  put  for 
two  years  into  the  hands  of  the  Huguenots,  as  a  guarantee 
for  their  safety  and  for  the  fulfillment  of  the  stipulations. 

Thus  the  obstinate  refusal  to  grant  a  moderate  degree 
of  religious  liberty  led  to  the  necessity  of  a  vastly  greater 
concession,  through  Avhich  the  kingdom  was  divided 
against  itself  —  another  kingdom  being,  as  it  were,  estab- 
lished within  it.  Yet  it  was  a  measure  which  the  Hugue- 
nots, after  their  experience  of  the  perfidy  of  the  Court, 
had  no  alternative  but  to  demand. 

The  conclusion  of  this  peace  with  the  Huguenots 
brought  upon  the  European  states  a  political  crisis  of 
great  moment.  It  seemed  likely  that  France  would  take 
part  in  a  coalition  against  Philip  II.  The  state  of  things 
in  the  Netherlands  at  this  juncture  was  favorable  for  such 
an  alliance.  The  union  of  Philip  with  Venice  and  with  the 
Pope,  and  the  victory  of  Lepanto,  increased  the  jealousy 
with  which  France  and  England  looked  on  his  ambitious 


MASSACRE   OF   ST.    BARTHOLOMEW.  273 

designs.     It  was  proposed  that  the  Duke  of  Anjou,  the 
heir  of  the  French  brown,  should  marry  Queen  Elizabeth, 
and,  when  this  negotiation  was  broken  off,  that  his  younger 
brother,  the  Duke  d'Alencon,  should  marry  her.       The 
Queen   Mother  was  in  apparent,  and  probably,  sincere 
accord  with  this  new  policy.      The  sons  of  the  Constable 
Montmorenci  were  then  powerful  at   court,  and  it  was 
one  of    them,  the  Marshal  Francis,   who   suggested  the 
marriage  of   the  youngest  daughter  of    Catharine,  Mar- 
garet  of   Valois,   to  Henry   of    Navarre.      The    Queen 
Mother  fell  in  with  the  proposal,  and  the  Huguenots  were 
not  averse  to  it.     At  about  the  same  time  Conde  was 
married  to  a  princess  of  the  house  of  Cleve.     So  ardent 
were  the  hopes  of  the  Protestants  that  Coligny  himself 
came  to  the  court  and  was  warmly  received  by  Catharine. 
He  was  a  man  of  the  purest  and  loftiest  character.    On 
his  own  estate,  he  punctually  attended,  with  his  family 
and  dependents,  the  Calvinistic  worship ;    and  at   each 
recurrence  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  he  was  at  pains  to  heal 
all  quarrels  and  differences  among  his  people.    He  entered 
into  the  civil  wars  with  the  utmost  reluctance  and  sor- 
row, in  obedience  to  the  imperative  call  of  duty,  and  in 
compliance  with  the  counsels  of    his  wife,  who  equaled 
him  in  piety  and  in  nobleness  of  soul.     He  did  not  allow 
the  spirit  of    a  patriot  to    sink  in   that  of    a  partisan. 
Notwithstanding  that  he  stood  at  the  head  of  a  powerful 
party,  and,  though  a  subject,  was  able  to  make  peace  or 
war,  he  was  broad  and  disinterested  in  all  his  plans. 
Grave  in   his    deportment,   inflexible    in   his    principles, 
'blameless  in  his  morals,  with  an  immutable  trust  in  God, 
he  presents  a  commanding  figure  in  the  midst  of  the  con- 
fusion and  corruption  of  the  times.     It  was  the  hatred  of 
Catharine  de  Medici  to  Coligny  that  led  to  the  massacre 
of  St.  Bartholomew.       She   saw  how  deeply  the    King 
was  impressed  with  his  abilities  and  excellence.     Charles 
IX.,  sickly  in  body,  like  the  other  sons  of  Henry  II.,  and 

18 


274  THE  REFORMATION   IN  FRANCE. 

with  an  unhealthy,  unregulated  nature  — all  the  bad  ten- 
dencies of  which  had  been  fostered  hi  the  base  and  disso- 
lute society  in  which  he  had  been  reared,  and  by  the 
influence  of  his  mother,  whose  supreme  purpose  was  to 
keep  up  her  own  ascendency  over  him — now  felt  for  the 
first  time  the  inspiring  influence  of  a  man  who  could 
awaken  in  him  something  of  reverence  and  love.  The 
Queen  saw  that  day  by  day  she  was  becoming  supplanted, 
simply  by  the  natural  impression  which  Coligny  made  upon 
her  son.  The  best  hopes  were  awakened  in  Coligny 's 
own  mind  by  the  almost  filial  regard  with  which  the  King 
listened  to  him.  He  urged  most  earnestly  that  war 
should  be  declared  against  Spain,  and  the  King  was  in- 
clined to  take  the  step.  However  Catharine  might  be 
disposed  to  prevent  Philip  from  acquiring  a  power  in 
France  that  could  be  dangerous  to  herself,  she  was  not  of 
a  mind  to  enter  into  a  war  against  him  ;  a  war,  too,  that 
must  incidentally  add  to  the  prosperity  of  the  Huguenots, 
and  confirm  the  influence  of  Coligny  over  the  King. 
Whom  would  he  follow,  Catharine  or  Coligny  ?  Warm 
words  passed  between  Coligny  and  the  Queen  Mother,  in 
the  presence  of  Charles.  The  Admiral  said  that  the 
King  might  be  involved  in  war,  even  against  his  will 
—  referring  to  the  conflict  in  the  Netherlands,  into  which 
Coligny  was  urging  him  to  enter.  It  was  pretended  after- 
wards that  he  had  thrown  out  a  threat  of  rebellion. 
Catharine  determined  to  destroy  him.  She  called  in  the 
aid  of  the  Guises,  his  implacable  enemies,  who  longed  to 
avenge  upon  him  the  assassination  of  their  relative. 
Her  second  son,  the  Duke  of  Anjou,  afterwards  Henry  III., 
on  whom  she  doted  and  who  was  equally  alarmed  at  the 
feeling  which  the  King  manifested  to  Coligny,  engaged 
cordially  in  the  plot.  The  Duchess  of  Nemours,  the 
widow  of  Francis,  and  the  mother  of  Henry  of  Guise, 
willingly  aided  in  devising  and  carrying  out  the  diaboli- 
cal scheme.      Coligny  was  wounded  by  a  shot  from  a 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.   BARTHOLOMEW.  275 

window  of  an  adherent  of  the  Guises.  This  was  on  the 
22d  of  August,  1572.  The  wound  was  not  dangerous, 
and  the  plot  had  miscarried.  The  failure  involved  the 
more  peril  to  the  authors  of  it,  from  the  sympathy  with 
the  Admiral  which  the  King  expressed,  and  from  his  in- 
dignation at  the  Guises,  who  were  known  to  be  at  the 
bottom  of  it.  In  a  visit  to  Coligny,  in  which  the  Queen 
Mother  accompanied  the  King,  the  wounded  veteran, 
who  at  that  time  thought  that  the  bullets  which  had 
struck  him  might  have  been  poisoned,  called  him  to  the 
bed-side,  and,  in  an  undertone,  cautioned  him  against 
yielding  to  the  councils  of  Catharine  and  the  faction  with 
which  she  had  allied  herself.  By  the  most  importunate 
urging,  she  extorted  from  Charles  a  statement  of  what 
the  Admiral  had  said. 

Thereupon  the  plan  of  a  general  massacre  was  matured. 
Had  it  been  thought  of  before  ?  Pains  had  been  taken 
to  collect  the  Huguenots  from  all  quarters  into  the  city. 
Catharine  had  insisted  that  the  marriage  should  take  place 
there.  There  is  evidence  that  the  idea  of  seizing  on  this 
occasion  to  cut  off  some  of  the  Huguenot  leaders  was  not 
new  to  the  Queen's  mind.  It  is  impossible  to  trace  out 
the  sinuosities  of  a  nature  so  made  up  of  deceit.1  She 
was  fully  capable  of  weaving  two  schemes  simultaneously, 
and  of  availing  herself  of  either  as  circumstances  might 
dictate.  At  all  events,  the  failure  in  the  first  attempt 
upon  Coligny  moved  her  and  her  confederates  to  under- 
take a  general  massacre.  Henry  III.,  who  was  one  of 
them,  asserted  that  the  King  himself,  when  he  had  been 
prevailed  upon  to  acquiesce  in  the  murder  of  Coligny,  de- 
manded that  the  Huguenots  should  all  be  struck  down,  so 
that  none  should  be  left  to  cry  out  against  his  deed.  The 
court  had  been  absorbed  in  the  festivities  attending  the 

1  M  Cette  femme  etait  le  mensonge  meme  ct  l'on  sc  perd  dans  1'abime  de  sa 
fausseti'."  Henri  Martin,  ix.  231.  Michelet,  in  the  course  of  his  eloquent  nar- 
rative of  the  St.  Bartholomew  plot,  says  of  Catharine:  "  Elle  etait  douhlo  et 
fausse  avec  tous,  avec  elle-meme."     Guerres  de  Religion,  p.  399. 


276  THE  REFORMATION  IN  FRANCE. 

marriage  of  Henry  of  Navarre.  The  fanaticism  of  the 
people  of  Paris  was  inflamed  by  the  presence  of  the 
Protestants  among  them,  and  efforts  were  necessary  to 
prevent  outbreakings  of  violence.  It  was  only  necessary 
to  unchain  the  passions  of  the  Catholic  populace,  and  the 
work  of  death  could  be  done.  The  feeble,  impulsive,  im- 
petuous, half-distracted  king,  was  assured  that  a  plot, 
with  Coligny  at  its  head,  had  been  formed  against  him, 
and  was  plied  with  entreaties,  arguments,  threats,  until 
his  opposition  was  broken  down,  and  he  yielded  himself 
as  a  passive  instrument  into  the  hands  of  the  conspira- 
tors.1 In  the  night  of  the  24th  of  August,  at  a  concerted 
signal,  the  murderers  fell  upon  the  victims,  the  destruction 
of  the  most  eminent  of  whom  had  been  previously  allotted 
to  individuals,  the  Duke  of  Guise  having  taken  it  in  charge 
to  despatch  Coligny.  An  indiscriminate  slaughter  of  the 
Huguenots  followed.  The  miserable  King  was  seen  to 
fire  upon  them  from  his  window.  Couriers  were  sent 
through  the  country,  and  in  the  other  towns  the  same 
frightful  scenes  were  enacted.     Not  less  than  two  thou- 

1  On  the  much  controverted  question,  whether  the  massacre  of  St.  Bartholo- 
mew was  premeditated,  two  of  the  ablest  modern  historians,  Ranke  and  Henri 
Martin,  are  substantially  agreed.  The  material  points  of  their  view  are  indi- 
cated above.  See  Ranke,  i.  212  seq.,  and  his  examination  (v.  97  seq.)  of  the 
work  of  Capefigue:  Histoire  de  la  Reforme,  de  la  Ligue  et  de  Henry  IV. 
Capefigue  is  one  of  the  writers  who  would  make  the  massacre  spring  wholly 
from  the  infuriated  state  of  Catholic  feeling  in  Paris,  of  which  the  individuals 
concerned  in  it  were  the  mere  instruments.  Martin  (ix.  302)  considers  that  in 
insisting  that  the  marriage  of  Navarre  should  be  at  Taris,  there  was  in  the  mind 
of  the  Queen  Mother  "  sinon  un  projet,  au  moins,  une  arriere-pensee  sinistra." 
When  Catharine  put  herself  openly  at  the  head  of  the  party  of  peace,  "  la  vague 
penscc  qui  avait  toujours  flotte  dans  son  esprit  se  fixe :  le  fantome  du  meurtre  prend 
corps;  'elle  tientconseil  de  se  d^faire  de  l'Amiral '  {Mem.  de  Tavannes,  p.  386)." 
Martin,  p.  302.  Henry  III.'s  narrative  of  St.  Bartholomew  is  considered  genuine 
by  Martin  (p.  309,  n.)  Its  genuineness  is  doubted  by  Ranke.  The  view  of  Ranke 
and  Martin  as  to  the  origin  of  the  massacre,  not  in  a  plot  definitely  framed  long 
before,  but  in  the  terror  and  fanaticism  excited  by  the  failure  of  the  attempt  to  as- 
sassinate Coligny,  is  adopted  by  Soldan,  Franknich  u.  die  Barikolomchts  Nacht ; 
by  Henry  White,  in  his  truly  learned  as  well  as  readable  work  on  the  Civil  "Wars, 
The  Massacre  of  St.  Biirtholomew,  and  by  other  judicious  writers.  Browning,  in 
his  valuable  History  of  the  Huguenots  (ch.  xxvii.),  errs  in  attributing  to  Charles 
IX.  the  purpose  to  decoy  the  Huguenot  leaders  to  Paris  in  order  to  cut  them  off. 


JOY  AT  MADRID  AND  ROME.  277 

sand  were  killed  in  Paris,  and  as  many  as  twenty  thou- 
sand in  the  rest  of  France.  Navarre  and  Conde  were  at 
length  obliged  to  conform  to  the  Catholic  Church,  to  save 
their  lives.  The  news  of  the  great  massacre  excited  a 
tumult  of  joy  at  Madrid  and  at  Rome.  It  is  said  that 
Philip  II.,  for  the  first  time  in  his  life,  laughed  aloud. 
The  Pope  ordered  a  Te  Deum,  and  by  processions  and  ju- 
bilant thanksgivings  the  Papal  court  signified  the  satis- 
faction with  which  the  intelligence  was  received.  A 
medal  was  struck,  having  on  one  side  the  image  of  Greg- 
ory XIII.,  and  on  the  the  other,  the  destroying  angel, 
with  the  words  :  Hugonotorum  strages  (massacre  of  the 
Huguenots).  The  Pope  ordered  Vasari  to'  paint  and 
hang  up  in  the  Vatican,  a  picture  which  should  represent 
the  slaughter  of  the  Huguenots,  and  bear  the  inscription : 
"  Pontifex  Colignii  necem  probat"  (the  Pope  approves 
the  slaying  of  Coligny).  Among  the  fictitious  apologies 
which  the  French  Court  put  forth,  that  which  charged 
upon  the  Huguenots  a  plot  against  the  King  and  govern- 
ment, met  with  little,  if  any,  credence.  Everywhere, 
except  at  Madrid  and  Rome,  in  the  Catholic  as  well  as 
Protestant  nations,  the  atrocious  crime  was  regarded  with 
horror  and  with  detestation  of  its  perpetrators. 

The  Protestants  were  not  subdued  by  the  terrible  loss 
whieh  they  had  suffered.  The  burning  wrath  which  it 
excited  among  them  was  a  new  source  of  strength.  Ro- 
chelle  still  held  out.  Nor  did  the  Queen  Mother  desert 
her  previous  path  or  show  herself  disposed  to  a  close  alli- 
ance with  Philip.  She  even  sought  to  keep  up  negotiations 
for  the  marriage  of  Alencon  with  Elizabeth. 

A  new  turn  was  given  to  affairs  by  the  separation  of 
the  "  Politiques,"  or  liberal  Catholics,  who  were  in  favor  of 
toleration,  from  their  fanatical  brethren.  The  wisdom  and 
necessity  of  the  policy  which  L' Hospital  had  vainly  rec- 
ommended, were  now  recognized  by  a  strong  party.  In 
1574  the  wretched  life  of  Charles  IX.  came  to  an  end. 


278  THE  REFORMATION   IN   FRANCE. 

His  brother  and  successor,  Henry  III.,  the  favorite  of  his 
mother,  and  most  fully  imbued  with  her  ideas,  and  who 
had  been  active  in  contriving  the  massacre  of  St.  Barthol- 
omew, was  wholly  incompetent  to  govern  a  country  that 
was  torn  by  religious  factions,  a  country  whose  treasury 
was  exhausted,  and  whose  people  were  clamorous  for  de- 
liverance from  their  heavy  burdens  of  taxation,  at  the 
same  time  that  a  strong  party  was  demanding  radical  po- 
litical reforms.  The  King  endeavored  to  make  his  way 
by  craft  and  double-dealing,  but  lost  the  confidence  of 
both  of  the  religious  parties.  In  May,  1576,  he  made  his 
peace  with  the  united  Huguenots  and  Politiques,  giving 
to  the  former  unrestricted  religious  freedom,  with  the 
exception  of  Paris,  and  an  equal  eligibleness  to  all  offices 
and  dignities. 

With  the  cooperation  of  Spain,  Henry  of  Guise  organ- 
ized the  Catholic  League,  for  the  maintenance  of  the 
Catholic  religion  and  for  the  extirpation  of  Protestantism. 
The  Estates  at  Blois  in  1576  demanded  that  there  should 
be  but  one  religion  in  the  kingdom.  The  unpopularity  of 
Henry  among  the  extreme  Catholics  was  not  only  owing 
to  his  shuffling  course  on  the  religious  question,  but  also 
to  his  advancement  of  personal  favorites  to  the  highest 
offices,  and  his  subjection  to  their  influence,  in  disregard 
of  the  claims  of  the  great  nobles.  The  League  com- 
menced another  war,  the  sixth  in  the  series,  for  the  at- 
tainment of  their  ends,  and  drew  the  irresolute  and  help- 
less King  along  with  them.  The  result  was  the  securing 
to  the  Huguenots  of  what  had  been  granted  them  in  l~uC) ; 
but  the  seventh  war,  that  soon  followed,  ended  in  the 
adoption  of  the  first  Edict  of  Toleration.  In  L>cS4,  the 
Duke  of  Alencon,  who,  after  the  accession  of  Henry  to 
the  throne,  had  worn  the  title  of  the  Duke  of  Anjou, 
died.  Thus  Henry  of  Navarre  was  left  the  next  heir  to 
the  throne.  The  League,  with  Spain  and  Rome  at  its 
back,  resolved  that  he  should   never  wear   the   crown. 


THE  CATHOLIC  LEAGUE.  279 

Sixtus  V.,  shortly  after  his  accession  to  the  Papal  chair, 
issued  a  bull,  in  which  the  two  Princes,  Navarre  and 
Cond6,  as  heretics,  and  leaders  and  promoters  of  heresy, 
were  declared  to  have  forfeited  their  dignities  and  posses- 
sions, including  all  title  to  the  French  throne.  In  the 
war  of  the  "  three  Henries,"  as  it  was  called,  Henry  of 
Navarre  was  supported  by  England  and  by  troops  from 
Germany  and  Switzerland.  The  King,  on  his  return  to 
Paris,  found  that  Henry  of  Guise  was  greeted  by  the 
multitude  as  the  hero  of  the  war.  The  attempt  of  the 
King  to  introduce  bodies  of  troops  devoted  to  himself, 
was  met  by  the  erection  of  barricades  in  the  streets  of 
the  city,  and  he  was  obliged  to  make  a  humiliating  ap- 
peal to  Guise  to  quiet  the  disorder.  The  Assembly  of 
the  States  General  at  Blois,  in  1588,  brought  forward 
projects  of  constitutional  reform  which  reduced  the  power 
of  the  King  to  a  low  point.  His  mortification,  resent- 
ment, and  impatience  at  the  restrictions  laid  upon  him, 
had  now  reached  their  height.  He  caused  the  Duke  of 
Guise  to  be  assassinated  by  the  royal  bod}T-guards,  and 
the  Duke's  brother,  the  Cardinal  of  Lorraine,  to  be  dis- 
patched the  same  day. 

Henry  III.  had  now  brought  on  himself  the  implacable 
hostility  of  the  League.  The  fanatical  preachers  of  Paris 
held  him  up  to  the  execration  of  the  people.  The  doctors 
of  the  Sorbonne  hastened  to  declare  that  he  had  incurred 
the  penalty  of  excommunication,  and  that  his  subjects 
were  of  right  absolved  from  their  allegiance.  The  actual 
excommunication  from  the  Pope  followed.  It  was  for- 
tunate for  the  King  that  there  was  an  army  of  Protes- 
tants in  the  field,  under  Prince  Henry  of  Navarre.  The 
King  joined  himself  to  the  Prince.  The  army,  made 
strong  by  the  union  of  the  Huguenots  and  the  Politiques 
—  the  liberal  Catholics  who  were  still  loyal  to  the  sover- 
eign—  drew  near  to  Paris.  It  was  thought  advisable  in 
the  city  to  set  a  watch  upon  the  Catholics  who  were  not 


280  THE  REFORMATION  IN  FRANCE. 

of  the  League.  At  that  time,  when  the  royal  cause, 
faithfully  supported  by  Navarre,  was  gaining  ground,  a 
fanatical  priest,  Clement  by  name,  made  his  way  into  the 
camp  and  slew  the  King  (1589). 

Henry  IV.  was  now  the  sovereign  of  France  by  right 
of  inheritance  ;  but  he  had  been  declared  ineligible  by 
the  Pope,  and  he  had  his  kingdom  to  win.  The  League 
were  disposed  to  put  France  under  the  protection  of 
Philip  II.  The  Duke  of  Mayenne,  the  brother  of  the 
Guises  who  were  assassinated  by  order  of  the  King,  was 
at  the  head  of  the  government  which  the  League  provis- 
ionally established.  The  interests  of  Spain  were  cared 
for  by  the  ambassador,  Mendoza,  an  astute  diplomatist, 
whom  Elizabeth  had  found  it  inconsistent  with  her  safety 
and  that  of  her  kingdom  to  suffer  to  remain  in  England. 
Philip  II.  aspired  to  unite  the  Catholic  nations  under  his 
rule,  and  the  League  were  so  lost  to  the  feeling  of  pat- 
riotism as  to  wish  him  success.  The  project  of  the  union 
of  France  and  Spain  failed,  as  far  as  the  League  was 
concerned,  only  by  the  jealousy  of  the  Duke  of  Mayenne, 
who  refused  to  consent  that  his  nephew,  whom  it  was 
proposed  to  marry  to  Philip's  daughter,  should  wear  the 
crown.  The  gallantry  of  Henry  of  Navarre  was  con- 
spicuously displayed.  In  the  battle  of  Ivry,  on  the  14th 
of  March,  1590,  he  gained  a  brilliant  victory,  which  was 
chiefly  due  to  his  personal  valor.  The  strategy  of  Alex- 
ander of  Parma,  one  of  the  ablest  generals  of  the  age, 
neutralized  his  successes  until  that  commander  died.1 
Besides  the  discord  in  the  League,  which  has  been  noticed, 
other  circumstances  gradually  turned  to  the  advantage  of 
Henry.  The  great  obstacle  in  the  way  of  his  crushing 
opposition  was  the  fact  that  he  was  a  Protestant.     When 

1  See  the  remarks  of  Due  d'Aumale  on  Henry's  military  talents,  ii.  170.  The 
King  was  master  of  tactics,  but  not  a  strategist.  D'Aumale's  work  is  specially 
instructive  in  reference  to  the  constitution  of  the  armies  and  the  military  events 
of  the  civil  wars. 


THE  ABJURATION   OF   HENRY   IV.  281 

urged  to  become  a  Catholic,  immediately  after  the  death 
of  Henry  III.,  he  had  refused,  but  in  such  terms  as  to 
inspire  the  hope  that  he  might  ultimately  accede  to  the 
proposal.  The  portion  of  the  Catholic  body  that  had 
given  him  their  support,  would  not  consent  to  the  elevation 
of  a  Protestant  to  the  throne.  It  was  not  personal  am- 
bition alone,  nor  was  it  the  desire  of  repose  for  himself, 
which  he  felt  after  so  long  a  conflict ;  it  was  the  oppor- 
tunity that  was  given  him  to  restore  peace  to  France,  that 
at  length  moved  him  to  conform  to  the  Catholic  Church. 
It  had  been  urged  upon  him,  that  the  constitution  of  the 
kingdom  was  such  that  he  was  morally  bound  to  be  a 
member  of  the  old  Church.  As  King,  he  believed  that  he 
could  shield  the  Huguenots  from  persecution,  as  well  as 
bring  to  an  end  the  terrible  calamities  under  which 
France  was  groaning.  As  long  as  he  remained  outside 
of  the  Catholic  Church,  he  could  not  win  the  cities 
to  his  cause,  and  he  could  not  hope  to  reign  by  the  aid 
of  the  nobility  alone.  He  had  no  doubt  that  salvation 
was  possible  in  the  old  Church.  Sully,  who  dwells  with 
much  self-complacency  on  the  part  which  he  took  in 
leading  the  King  to  abjure  Protestantism,  assured  him 
that  it  was  not  a  change  of  religion  ;  that  the  foundation 
of  the  two  systems  was  the  same.1  But  Du  Perron,  who 
had  before  returned  to  the  Catholic  Church,  and  whom 
Henry  afterwards  made  Bishop  of  Evreux,  had  at  least 
an  equal  influence  in  persuading  the  King  to  follow  his 
example.  Specific  articles  of  faith  that  were  presented 
to  him,  he  refused  to  sign.  But  he  went  into  the  Church  of 
St.  Denis  and  kneeling  before  the  Archbishop  of  Bourges, 
solemnly  declared  that  he  would  live  and  die  in  the  Cath- 
olic Church,  which  he  promised  to  protect  and  defend.  As 
he  had  not  really  altered  his  opinions,  the  step  that  he  took 
was  one  which  admits  of  no  moral  justification.  Beza, 
who  was  then  near  the  end  of  his  life,  wrote  to  him  a 

1  Memoires,  b.  v. 


282  THE  REFORMATION   IN   FRANCE. 

pathetic  and  solemn  warning  against  it.1  We  cannot 
conceive  of  a  man  like  Coligny  consenting  to  abjure  his 
religious  profession  from  any  consideration  of  expedi- 
ency. Men  of  the  highest  type  of  character  do  right  and 
leave  consequences  to  Providence.  But  Henry  had  been 
reared  in  the  camp  ;  he  had  neither  the  strength  of 
religious  convictions  nor  the  purity  of  life  which  answered 
to  the  standard  of  the  earnest  Huguenots.  Thus  his 
faults  palliate  the  guilt  of  an  act  which,  if  done  by  a  man 
of  a  higher  moral  tone,  would  have  been  attended  by  an 
utter  ruin  of  character.  The  nation  was  now  easily  won 
to  his  cause.  It  is  gratifying  to  find  the  most  eminent  of 
the  recent  writers  on  French  history  dissenting  from  the 
popular  view  which  assumes  that  it  was  demonstrably  im- 
possible for  Henry  to  attain  to  the  throne  without  aban- 
doning his  faith.  The  same  writer  agrees  with  distin- 
guished  individuals  in  the  Catholic  Church,  who  even  at 
that  day  preferred  that  the  King  should  remain  an  honest 
Protestant  than  become  a  pretended  Catholic.2  It  is  un- 
questionable, however,  that  the  immediate  effect  was  to 
open  his  way  to  the  throne  and  to  put  an  end  to  the  hor- 
rors of  civil  war.  He  rode  into  Paris,  wearing  the  white 
plume  which  had  often  waved  in  the  thick  of  the  fight. 

The  abjuration  of  Henry  might  be  approved  by  a  Prot- 
estant like  Sully,  in  whom  religion  was  subordinate  to 
politics ;  but  it  brought  consternation  and  grief  to  the 
great  body  of  his  faithful  Huguenot  adherents  who  had 
stood  by  him  in  the  darkest  hours,  and  who  now  saw  the 
foundations  on  which  they  stood  as  a  party,  struck  from 
under  their  feet.  It  is  remarkable  that  lie  retained,  to  so 
great  an  extent,  the  affection  of  those  who  most  deplored 
his  change  of  religion.  His  captivating  qualities  gave 
him  an  almost  irresistible  ascendency  over  the  hearts  of 
men.     The   abjuration   of   Henry  was  not  the   only  evil 

1  For  the  remonstrances  of  other  Protestants,  see  the  thorough  work  of  Sta- 
belin,  Der  UOirtritt  KiinUj  Heinrichs  des  Vierten  (Basel,  18fJ2),  p.  G-iO. 

2  Martin,  x.  32i). 


THE   ADMINISTRATION   OF   HENRY  IV.  283 

which  the  Huguenots  were  destined  to  experience  as  a 
consequence  of  being  a  political  party.  Others,  especially 
nobles,  sought  and  found  personal  advancement  by  fol- 
lowing the  example  of  their  chief.  The  leadership  of 
the  Huguenot  party  was  coveted  by  persons  more  emi- 
nent for  their  rank  than  for  their  devotion  to  religion. 
The  continued  persecution,  of  which  the  Huguenots  were 
the  victims,  enabled  them  to  rally  and  preserve  their  polit- 
ical organization  ;  and  the  strength  which  they  still  mani- 
fested, indirectly  aided  the  King  in  carrying  into  effect 
the  policy  of  peace  and  toleration.  He  aimed  to  mode- 
rate the  polemical  ardor  of  the  Huguenot  champions, 
and  did  not  conceal  his  satisfaction  when  his  old  friend, 
Du  Plessis  Mornay,  was  convicted,  in  a  disputation  with 
Du  Perron,  at  Fontainebleau,  of  having  unwittingly  used 
inaccurate  citations  from  the  ecclesiastical  writers.1 

The  administration  of  Henry,  though  cut  short  by  the 
dagger  of  Ravaillac,  was  of  incalculable  advantage  to 
France.  With  the  assistance  of  the  astute  Sully,  he  re- 
organized the  industry,  and  restored  the  prosperity  of  the 
country.  He  made  war  upon  Spain,  and  in  the  treaty  of 
Vervins,  in  1598,  he  recovered  the  places  which  had  been 
conquered  from  France,  both  by  Philip,  and  by  the  Duke 
of  Savoy.  The  Pope  was  compelled  to  conclude  peace, 
and  to  annul  his  various  fulminations  against  Henry, 
while  the  latter  refused  to  make  any  declaration  except 
that  he  had  returned  to  the  Catholic  Church  ;  and  he  ad- 
hered to  his  promise  to  protect  both  religions.  The  idea 
of  his  foreign  policy,  which  was  that  of  weakening  the 
power  of  Spain,  and  of  Hapsburg,  and  of  extending  the 
boundaries  of  France,  was  afterwards  taken  up  by  Riche- 
lieu, and  fully  realized.  In  the  Edict  of  Nantes,  in  1598, 
Henry  secured  to  the  Huguenots  that  measure  of  religious 
liberty,  and  the  guarantees  of  it,  for  which  they  had  con- 

lA  favorable  view  of  the  King's  policy  in  dealing  with  the  Huguenots  is 
given  by  Ranke,  ii.  74  seq. :  a  less  favorable  view  by  Stiihelin,  p.  027  seq. 


284  THE  REFORMATION   IN   FRANCE. 

bended.  It  left  fortified  cities  in  their  hands,  thus  per- 
petuating the  existence  of  an  organized  power  within  the 
State  ;  but  this  was  a  necessity  of  the  times.  With  this 
exception,  his  domestic  policy  involved  the  concentration 
of  power  in  the  monarch ;  and  in  this  respect,  Richelieu 
followed  in  his  footsteps.  But  if  the  accession  of  Henry 
IV.  brought  a  comparative  security  to  the  Calvinists  of 
France,  this  was  the  limit  of  its  advantage  to  them. 
From  a  religious  body,  animated  with  the  purpose  to 
bring  the  whole  country  to  the  adoption  of  their  princi- 
ples, they  were  reduced  to  the  condition  of  a  defensive 
party,  confined  by  metes  and  bounds,  which  it  could  not 
overpass  ;  a  party  more  and  more  separated  from  the 
Catholic  population,  and  exposed,  besides,  to  the  evils 
consequent  on  keeping  up  a  political  and  military  organi- 
zation. From  this  moment,  Protestantism  in  France 
ceased  to  grow. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

THE   REFORMATION   IN   THE   NETHERLANDS. 

The  Netherlands  formed  a  most  valuable  portion  of  the 
inherited  dominions  of  Charles  V.  The  Dukes  of  Bur- 
gundy, the  descendants  of  King  John  of  France,  taking 
advantage  of  the  weakness  of  the  French  crown  and  of 
the  wars  between  France  and  England,  had  built  up  by 
marriage,  purchase,  and  conquest,  or  by  more  culpable 
means,  a  rich  and  powerful  dominion.  The  Duchy  of 
Burgundy  gradually  extended  its  confines,  until,  in  the 
reign  of  Charles  V.,  it  comprised  seventeen  provinces,  and 
was  nearly  coextensive  with  the  territory  included  in  the 
present  kingdoms  of  Holland  and  Belgium.  All  of  the  old 
writers  describe  in  glowing  language  the  unequaled  pros- 
perity and  thrift  of  the  Low  Countries,  and  the  skill  and 
intelligence  of  the  people.1  Agriculture,  manufactures, 
and  commerce,  were  equally  flourishing  and  lucrative. 
There  were  three  hundred  and  fifty  cities,  some  of  them 
the  largest  and  busiest  in  Europe.  Antwerp,  with  a  pop- 
ulation of  one  hundred  thousand  inhabitants,  at  a  time 
when  London  had  only  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand, 
was  the  resort  of  merchants  from  every  quarter,  and  had 
a  trade  surpassing  that  of  any  other  European  city.  The 
people  of  the  Netherlands  were  noted  not  less  for  their 

1  Strada,  De  Betto-Belgico,  torn.  i.  For  a  description  of  the  state  of  the  Low- 
Countries,  see  Hausser,  Gsch.  d.  Zeitalt.  d.  Re/.,  p.  328  seq.  Prescott,  Hid.  of 
the  Reign  of  Philip  II.,  b.  ii.  ch.  1;  Motley,  Rise  of  the  Dutch  Republic,  i.  81  seq. 
Th.  Juste.  Hist,  de  la  Revol.  des  Pays-Bas,  torn.  I.  1.  v.  Holzwarth,  Der  Ah- 
fall  J.  Niederliinder  (3  vols.,  1866-72).  The  facts  arc  drawn  from  Guicciardini, 
Belgian  Descriptio  (1652),  Strada,  Basnage,  Annates  des  Provinces- Unis  (1719), 
and  other  sources. 


286  THE   REFORMATION  IN  THE  NETHERLANDS. 

ingenuity  shown  in  the  invention  of  machines  and  imple- 
ments, and  for  their  proficiency  in  science  and  letters,  than 
for  their  opulence  and  enterprise.  It  was  their  boast  that 
common  laborers,  even  the  fishermen  who  dwelt  in  the 
huts  of  Friesland,  could  read  and  write,  and  discuss  the 
interpretation  of  Scripture.  Local  self-government  ex- 
isted to  a  remarkable  extent  throughout  the  seventeen 
provinces.  Each  had  its  own  chartered  rights,  privileges, 
and  immunities,  and  its  immemorial  customs,  which  the 
sovereign  was  bound  to  keep  inviolate.  The  people  loved 
their  freedom.  Charles  V.,  with  all  the  advantages  de- 
rived from  his  vast  power,  could  not  amalgamate  the 
provinces,  or  fuse  them  under  a  common  system,  and  was 
obliged  to  satisfy  himself  with  being  the  head  of  a  con- 
federacy of  little  republics.  But  at  the  Diet  of  Augsburg, 
in  1518,  he  succeeded  in  legalizing  the  separation  of  the 
Netherlands  into  a  distinct,  united  portion  of  the  Empire, 
paying  its  own  tax,  in  a  gross  amount,  into  the  treasury  ; 
having  certain  special  rights  in  the  Diet ;  entitled  to  pro- 
tection, but  exempt  from  the  jurisdiction  of  the  imperial 
judiciary,  to  which  other  parts  of  the  Empire  were  sub- 
ject. 

In  such  a  population,  among  the  countrymen  of  Eras- 
mus, where,,  too,  in  previous  ages,  various  forms  of  inno- 
vation and  dissent  had  arisen,  the  doctrines  of  Luther 
must  inevitably  find  an  entrance.  They  were  brought  in 
by  foreign  merchants,  "  together  with  whose  commodities," 
writes  the  old  Jesuit  historian  Strada,  "  this  plague  often 
sails."  They  were  introduced  with  the  German  and 
Swiss  soldiers,  whom  Charles  V.  had  occasion  to  bring  into 
the  country.  Protestantism  was  also  transplanted  from 
England  by  numerous  exiles  who  fled  from  the  persecu- 
tion of  Mary.  The  contiguity  of  the  country  to  Germany 
and  France  provided  abundant  avenues  for  the  incoming 
of  the  new  opinions.  "  Nor  did  the  Rhine  from  Ger- 
many, or  the  Meuse  from  France,"  to  quote  the  regretful 


THE  "  PLACARDS  "  OF  CHARLES  V.         287 

language  of  Strada,  "  send  more  water  into  the  Low 
Countries,  than  by  the  one  the  contagion  of  Luther,  by 
the  other  of  Calvin,  was  imported  into  the  same  Belgic 
provinces."  1  The  spirit  and  occupations  of  the  people, 
the  whole  atmosphere  of  the  country,  were  singularly 
propitious  for  the  spread  of  the  Protestant  movement. 
The  cities  of  Flanders  and  Brabant,  especially  Antwerp, 
very  early  furnished  professors  of  the  new  faith.  Charles 
V.  issued,  in  1521,  from  Worms,  an  edict,  the  first  of  a 
series  of  barbarous  enactments  or  "  placards,"  for  the 
extinguishing  of  heresy  in  the  Netherlands ;  and  it  did 
not  remain  a  dead  letter.2  In  1523,  two  Augustinian 
monks  were  burned  at  the  stake  in  Brussels.  After  the 
fire  was  kindled,  they  repeated  the  Apostle's  creed,  and 
sang  the  Te  Dcum  laudamus?  This  execution  drew  from 
Luther  an  inspiriting  letter  to  the  persecuted  Christians 
of  Holland  and  Brabant,  and  moved  him  to  write  a  stir- 
ring hymn  —  beginning,  "  Ein  neues  Lied  wir  heben  an," 
—  of  which  the  following  is  one  of  the  stanzas  :  — 

"  Quiet  their  ashes  will  not  lie : 
But  scattered  far  and  near, 
Stream,  dungeon,  bolt,  and  grave  defy, 
Their  foeman's  shame  and  fear. 
Those  whom  alive  the  tyrant's  wrongs 
To  silence  could  subdue, 
He  must,  when  dead,  let  sing  the  song9 
Which  in  all  languages  and  tongues, 
Resound  the  wide  world  through."4 

1  Strada,  Stapleton's  translation  (10G7),  p.  Ofi.  On  the  causes  of  the  rapid 
spread  of  Protestantism  in  the  Low  Countries,  see  Th.  Juste,  i.  319,  320.  Juste 
is  a  moderate  Catholic,  and  writes  with  impartiality. 

2  The  main  parts  of  the  first  "  Placard  "  are  given  by  Brandt,  History  of  the 
Reformation  in  the  Low  Countries,  i.  42.  3  Ibid.,  p.  45- 

4  "Die  Aschen  will  nicht  lassen  ab, 

Sie  stiiubt  in  alW  Landen. 
Hie  hilft  kein  Bach,  Loch,  Grub  noch  Grab; 

Sie  macht  den  Feind  zu  Schanden. 
Die  er  im  Leben  durch  den  Mord 

Zu  schweigen  hat  gedrungen, 
Die  muss  er  todt  an  allem  Ort 

Mit  allcr  Stimm',und  Zungcn 
Gar  fri  Mich  lassen  singen."     Gieseler,  iv.  i.  2,  §  24. 


288  THE   REFORMATION   IN   THE   NETHERLANDS. 

The  edicts  against  heresy  were  imperfectly  executed.  The 
Regent,  Margaret  of  Savoy,  was  lukewarm  in  the  business 
of  persecution  ;  and  her  successor,  Maria,  the  Emperor's 
sister,  the  widowed  Queen  of  Hungary,  was  still  more 
leniently  disposed.  The  Protestants  rapidly  increased  in 
number.  Calvinism,  from  the  influence  of  France,  and  of 
Geneva  where  young  men  were  sent  to  be  educated,  came 
to  prevail  among  them.  Anabaptists  and  other  licentious 
or  fanatical  sectaries,  such  as  appeared  elsewhere  in  the 
wake  of  the  Reformation,  were  numerous  ;  and  their  ex- 
cesses afforded  a  plausible  pretext  for  violent  measures  of 
repression  against  all  who  departed  from  the  old  faith.1 
In  1550,  Charles  V.  issued  a  new  Placard,  in  which  the 
former  persecuting  edicts  were  confirmed,  and  in  which  a 
reference  was  made  to  Inquisitors  of  the  faith,  as  well  as 
to  the  ordinary  judges  of  the  bishops.  This  excited  great 
alarm,  since  the  Inquisition  was  an  object  of  extreme 
aversion  and  dread.  The  foreign  merchants  prepared  to 
leave  Antwerp,  prices  fell,  trade  was  to  a  great  extent 
suspended  ;  and  such  was  the  disaffection  excited,  that  the 
Regent  Maria  interceded  for  some  modification  of  the  ob- 
noxious decree.  Verbal  changes  were  made,  but  the  fears 
of  the  people  were  not  quieted  ;  and  it  was  published  at 
Antwerp  in  connection  with  a  protest  of  the  magistrates 
in  behalf  of  the  liberties  which  were  put  in  peril  by  a 
tribunal  of  the  character  threatened.  "  And,'1  says  the 
learned  Arminian  historian,  "  as  this  affair  of  the  Inquisi- 
tion and  the  oppression  from  Spain  prevailed  more  and 
more,  all  men  began  to  be  convinced  that  they  were  des- 
tined to  perpetual  slavery."  Although  there  was  much 
persecution  in  the  Netherlands  during  the  long  reign  of 

1  The  Anabaptist  offenses  against  decency  and  order  are  naturally  dwelt  upon 
by  writers  disposed  to  apologize  for  the  persecutions  in  the  Netherlands;  as 
Leo,  Universal  Geschichtc,  iii.  327  seq.;  and  in  his  earlier  work,  Zwulf  Biicher 
Niederldndische  Geschichtc.  But  the  facts  and  circumstances  are  also  faith- 
fully detailed  by  Brandt  and  other  writers  whose  sympathies  are  on  the  other 
side. 


SPIRIT   AND   POLICY   OF  PHILIP   II.  289 

Charles,  yet  the  number  of  martyrs  could  not  have  been 
so  great  as  fifty  thousand,  the  number  mentioned  by  one 
Writer,  much  less  one  hundred  thousand,  the  number  given 
by  Grotius.1 

In  1555,  Charles  V.,  enfeebled  by  his  life-long  enemy, 
the  gout,  which  was  aggravated  by  reverses  of  fortune  — 
mindful,  too,  it  is  said,  of  a  former  saying  of  one  of  hia 
commanders,  that  "  between  the  business  of  life,  and  the 
day  of  death,  a  space  ought  to  be  interposed  "  —  resigned 
his  throne,  and  devolved  upon  his  son,  Philip  II.,  the 
government  of  the  Netherlands,  together  with  the  rest  of 
his  wide  dominions  in  Spain,  Italy,  and  the  New  World. 
Political  and  religious  absolutism  was  the  main  article  of 
Philip's  creed.  His  ideas  were  few  in  number,  but  he 
clung  to  them  with  the  more  unyielding  tenacity.  The 
liberties  of  Spain  had  been  destroyed  at  the  beginning  of 
Charles's  reign  ;  and  the  absolute  system  that  was  estab- 
lished there,  Philip  considered  the  only  true  or  tolerable 
form  of  government.  To  rule,  as  far  as  possible,  accord- 
ing to  this  method,  wherever  he  had  authority,  was  an 
established  purpose  in  his  mind.  At  the  same  time,  he 
was  resolved  to  stand  forth  as  the  champion  of  the  Ro- 
man Catholic  Church,  and  the  unrelenting  foe  of  heresy, 
wherever  he  could  reach  it.  The  Spanish  monarchy  had 
worn  a  religious  character  from  the  days  of  Ferdinand 
and  Isabella.  Its  discoveries  and  conquests  in  the  New 
World  had  been  pushed  in  the  spirit  of  religious  propa- 
gandism.  The  crusade  against  the  Moors  had  whetted 
the  fanatical  zeal  against  heresy.  In  Spain,  the  Inquisi- 
tion was  an  essential  instrument  of  the  civil  administra- 
tion. By  nature,  and  by  the  influence  of  the  circum- 
stances in  which  he  was  placed,  Philip  was  the  implac- 
able enemy  of  religious  dissent.  Moreover,  he  knew  that 
if  he  granted  liberty  of  conscience   in   one    part   of  his 

1  "  Nam  post  carnificata  hominum  non  minus  centum  millia,"  etc.  —  Annates 
et  Hist,  de  Rebus  Bely.,  1.  i   p.  12. 
19 


290  THE  REFORMATION  IN  THE  NETHERLANDS. 

dominions,  lie  might  have  to  meet  a  similar  demand  in 
another  —  in  Spain  itself.  The  counsels  of  his  father,  in 
whom,  as  he  advanced  in  years,  superstition  acquired  an 
increasing  sway,  confirmed  Philip  in  his  intolerant  big- 
otry.1 There  had  been  a  mutual  love  between  Charles 
and  the  people  of  the  Netherlands.  They  were  proud  of 
him  as  a  countryman,  and  his  affable  manners  in  inter- 
course with  them  kept  up  his  popularity.  His  persecu- 
tion of  the  Protestants,  and  his  cruelty  after  the  suppres- 
sion of  the  insurrection  at  Ghent,  did  not  suffice  to  alien- 
ate the  loyal  and  affectionate  regard  of  his  subjects.  But 
Philip  was  a  Spaniard,  and  showed  it  in  all  his  demeanor 
towards  them.  "  He  spoke  seldom,  and  then  all  Spanish." 
His  mingled  shyness  and  arrogance  repelled  and  disgusted 
them.  In  the  room  of  cordially  meeting  their  expressions  of 
enthusiasm,  he  seemed  desirous  of  escaping  from  them.2 

Among  this  wealthy,  spirited,  cultivated  people,  Philip 
seemed  inclined  to  introduce  his  despotic  system.  The 
great  nobles  of  the  country,  of  whom  William,  Prince  of 
Orange,  and  the  Counts  Egmont  and    Horn,  were  the 

1  The  bigotry  of  the  Emperor,  as  well  as  other  traits  which  he  manifested  after 
his  abdication,  are  set  forth  in  the  highly  interesting  work  of  Stirling,  The  Cloister 
Life  of  Charles  V.  The  other  writers  on  the  subject  are  Gachard,  Retraite  et 
Mort  de  Charles  Quint;  Mignet,  Charles  Quint,  son  Abdication,  son  Sejour  et 
sa  Mort  au  Monastere  de  Yuste.  These  authors  are  reviewed  by  Prescott, 
History  of  Philip  J  I.  (end  of  b.  i.);  and  in  his  edition  of  Robertson's  History 
of  Charles  V.,  iii.  327  seq.,  in  connection  with  Prescott's  own  historical  essay  on 
the  same  theme.  Of  course  the  Emperor  never  made  the  remark  often  attrib- 
uted to  him,  that  he  had  been  foolish  in  trying  to  produce  uniformity  of  opin- 
ion between  sects,  when  he  could  not  make  two  clocks  or  watches  accord. 
Macaulay  traces  the  saying  to  a  reflection  of  Strada,  who  observes  that  Charles 
governed  the  wheels  of  clocks  easier  than  fortune.  Pichot  traces  it  to  Van 
Male,  Charles's  Latin  Secretary,  by  whom  an  observation  of  Seneca,  respect- 
ing the  disputes  of  philosophers,  is  borrowed  and  applied  to  the  controversies  of 
doctors.  Pichot,  Chronique  de  Charles  Quint  (1854),  vol.  i.  p.  444.  The  Em- 
peror's expression  of  regret  that  he  had  not  burned  Luther  at  Worms,  shows 
his  real  mind.  Juste,  i.  98.  Prescott's  Robertson,  iii.  482.  From  Yuste  he 
addressed  to  the  Spanish  Inquisitors  and  to  Philip  exhortations  to  cruelty. 
Ibid.,  pp.  403,  404.  His  fanaticism  and  intolerance  appear  in  his  codicil,  in  his 
injunctions  to  Philip. 

2  Juste,  i.  124. 


THE  KEGENCY   OF   MARGARET   OF   PARMA.  291 

chief,  might  naturally  expect  to  be  intrusted  with  the 
principal  management  of  the  government  under  the  King. 
William,  though  born  of  Lutheran  parents,  had  been 
brought  up  from  his  boyhood  in  the  court  of  Charles  V., 
and  was  a  Catholic  by  profession,  but  opposed  to  persecu- 
tion. His  extraordinary  abilities  had  made  him  a  favorite 
of  the  Emperor,  who  gave  him  responsible  employments, 
and  signified  his  particular  regard  by  leaning  upon  his 
shoulder,  at  the  ceremony  of  the  abdication,  and  by 
selecting  him  to  convey  the  imperial  crown  to  his  brother 
Ferdinand.  Egmont,  with  far  less  depth  of  sagacity  and 
steadiness  of  character  than  Orange,  was  a  nobleman  of 
brilliant  courage  and  attractive  manners,  and  had  won 
high  fame  in  connection  with  the  victories  of  Gravelines 
and  St.  Quentin.  The  nobles,  both  these  and  others  of 
inferior  rank,  were  luxurious  in  their  style  of  living,  and 
their  lavish  expenditures  had  brought  on  many  of  them 
heavy  burdens  of  debt. 

Philip  did  not  select  his  Regent  from  the  aristocracy 
of  the  country,  nor  did  he  appoint  any  other  whom  the 
nobles  would  have  preferred ;  but  he  appointed  to  this 
office  Margaret  of  Parma,  the  illegitimate  daughter  of 
Charles  V.,  a  person  of  uncommon  talents  and  energy, 
and  utterly  devoted  to  the  will  of  her  brother.  She  was 
accomplished  in  the  art  of  dissimulation  and  double-deal- 
ing, which  formed  an  essential  part  of  Philip's  method  of 
governing.  She  nourished  the  King's  jealous}T  of  Orange 
and  Egmont.  In  the  first  act  of  selecting  a  Regent,  Philip 
showed  a  caution  that  partook  of  suspicion.  At  her  side 
he  placed,  as  her  principal  adviser,  Granvelle,  the  Bishop 
of  Arras.  His  father  was  of  humble  birth,  but  had  raised 
himself  to  an  important  station  under  the  Emperor,  by 
whom  the  talents  of  the  son  were  also  discerned.  Gran- 
velle, the  younger,  was  an  able  and  accomplished  man, 
and  well  acquainted  with  the  country,  but  servilely  de- 
voted to  the  King.     The  three  nobles  were  placed  in  the 


292  THE   REFORMATION   IN   THE   NETHERLANDS.    , 

Council,  but  the  secret  directions  of  Philip  to  the  Regent 
were  such  that  the  conduct  of  affairs  was  really  in  the 
hands  of  Granvelle  (1559). 

In  the  midst  of  the  murmurs  and  fears  which  the  or^an- 
ization  of  the  government  excited,  the  attemj)t  was  made 
to  retain  in  the  Netherlands  several  regiments  of  Spanish 
soldiers.  This  measure  was  undertaken  when  there  was 
no  sign  of  an  insurrection.  It  was  in  violation  of  the 
ancient  rights  of  the  Provinces,  and  imposed  a  burden 
which  was  the  more  onerous,  since,  in  the  previous  year, 
there  had  been  universal  suffering  from  the  scarcity  of 
provisions.  Philip  had  pledged  his  word,  on  leaving  the 
Netherlands,  that  the  troops  should  be  withdrawn  within 
four  months  ;  but  that  pledge  was  disregarded.  The  dis- 
affection increased  to  such  a  degree,  that  the  Regent  at 
length  availed  herself  of  a  convenient  pretext  for  sending 
them  away.  Philip  reluctantly  acquiesced  in  what  she 
pronounced  an  absolute  necessity,  if  the  country  was  to 
be  saved  from  insurrection. 

The  second  of  these  irritating  measures  was  the  crea- 
tion of  a  large  number  of  new  bishoprics.  Whatever 
plausible  reasons  might  be  urged  in  favor  of  this  measure, 
from  the  great  size  of  the  existing  dioceses,  and  their  in- 
convenient relations  to  the  contiguous  German  bishoprics, 
the  real  design  of  it  was  not  misunderstood.1  It  was  a 
part  of  the  machinery  to  be  employed  for  tightening  the 
cords  of  Church  discipline,  and  for  the  extermination  of 
heresy.  The  new  bishops  were  to  be  clothed  with  inquis- 
itorial powers.  The  creation  of  so  many  important  per- 
sonages, devoted,  of  course,  to  the  sovereign,  was  counted 
a,  disadvantage  to  the  old  hereditary  aristocracy  of  the 
country. 

Tin;  two  measures  of  the  retention  of  the  troops,  and 
the  imposition  of  the  bishops  —  measures  having  an  omin- 
ous relation  to  one  another  —  revealed  unmistakably  the 

1  Juste,  ii.  160,  279. 


AGGRESSIONS   OF  PHILIP  II.  293 

policy  of  Philip.  The  apologists  of  the  King  charge  the 
troubles  that  ensued  upon  the  ambition  of  the  nobles, 
especially  of  William,  who,  it  is  said,  wanted  to  govern 
the  country  themselves,  and  did  all  they  could  to  excite 
disaffection.  It  may  be  granted  that  they  were  not  free 
from  the  influence  of  personal  motives,  and  chafed  under 
the  arrangements  which  deprived  them  of  their  natural 
and  legitimate  place  in  the  control  of  public  affairs.  The 
charge  that  either  of  them  aimed  at  a  revolution  is  desti- 
tute of  proof.  In  the  midst  of  all  that  is  subject  to  con- 
troversy, two  things  cannot  reasonably  be  disputed.  One 
is  that  foreign  domination,  that  is,  the  rule  of  Spanish 
officers,  and  the  presence  of  Spanish  soldiery,  were  as 
hateful  to  the  Netherlander  as  they  were  to  the  Germans. 
It  was  what  contributed  most  to  the  reaction  against 
Charles  V.,  after  the  Smalcalclic  war,  and  to  the  triumph 
of  Maurice.  The  other  fact  is,  that  persecution,  the  forci- 
ble repression  of  heresy,  after  the  manner  of  Spanish  Cath- 
olicism, was  repugnant  to  the  general  feeling  of  the  peo- 
ple —  of  the  Catholic  population  —  of  the  Low  Countries. 
There  was  an  atmosphere  of  freedom,  and  a  state  of  pub- 
lic opinion,  to  which  the  policy  of  Philip  was  thoroughly 
opposed.  William  afterwards  declared  that,  while  hunt- 
ing in  company  with  Henry  II.  of  France,  that  monarch 
had  incautiously  revealed  to  him  the  secret  designs  of 
himself  and  Philip  for  the  extirpation  of  heresy  in  their 
dominions.  In  Philip's  scheme  for  the  increase  of  bish- 
ops, and  in  his  detention  of  the  troops,  William  saw  the 
beginning  of  the  execution  of  the  plot ;  and  he  deter- 
mined, he  says,  that  he  Avould  do  what  he  could  to  rid 
the  land  of  "  the  Spanish  vermin."  That  William  looked 
about  for  a  high  matrimonial  connection,  does  not  indi- 
cate any  deep-laid  plan  of  unlawful  personal  advancement: 
nor  in  his  marriage  with  Anna,  of  Saxony,  was  there  any 
serious  attempt  to  mislead  Philip  as  to  the  religion  to 


294  THE   REFORMATION   IN   THE   NETHERLANDS.    * 

be  adopted  by  his  bride.1  William  was  charged  with 
cherishing  Macchiavellian  principles  ;  but  the  age  was 
Macchiavellian,  and  he  does  not  appear  to  have  often 
transgressed  the  bounds  of  morality  in  the  use  of  that 
profound  sagacity  by  which  he  coped  with  unscrupulous 
adversaries. 

Philip  renewed  the  persecuting  edicts  of  Charles  V.  It 
was  forbidden  to  print,  copy,  keep,  hide,  buy,  or  sell  any 
writing  of  Luther,  Zwingle,  (Ecolampadius,  Bucer,  Cal- 
vin, or  of  any  other  heretic  ;  to  break  or  to  injure  any 
image  of  the  Virgin,  or  of  the  Saints  ;  to  hold  or  to  attend 
any  heretical  cjnventicle.  Laymen  were  prohibited  from 
reading  the  Scriptures,  or  taking  part  in  conferences  upon 
disputed  points  of  doctrine.  Transgressors,  in  case  they 
should  recant,  were,  if  they  were  men,  to  be  beheaded  ;  if 
women,  to  be  buried  alive.  If  obstinate,  they  were  to  be 
burnt  alive,  and,  in  either  case,  their  property  was  to  be 
confiscated.  To  omit  to  inform  against  suspicious  per- 
sons, to  entertain,  lodge,  feed,  or  clothe  them,  was  to  be 
guilty  of  heresy.  Persons  who,  for  the  reason  that  they 
were  suspected,  were  condemned  to  abjure  heresy,  were, 
in  case  they  rendered  themselves  again  suspicious,  to  be 
dealt  with  as  heretics.  Every  accuser,  in  case  of  convic- 
tion, was  to  receive  a  large  share  of  the  confiscated  goods. 
Judges  were  absolutely  forbidden  to  diminish  in  any  way 
the  prescribed  penalties.  Severe  penalties  were  threat- 
ened against  any  who  should  intercede  for  heretics  or 
present  a  petition  in  behalf  of  them.  To  carry  out  these 
enactments,  Charles  had  established  an  Inquisition,  which 
was  not  only  independent  of  the  clergy  of  the  country, 
but  to  which  they  were  all,  from  the  highest  to  the  lowest, 
answerable.  This  was  not  the  Spanish  Inquisition,  but 
it  was  sufficiently  rigorous  to  lead  Philip  to  pronounce  it 
more   pitiless  than  that  of  Spain.2     But,  fcesrrible  as  the 

1  Compare  Prescott,  i.  485,  with  Motley,  i.  300  scq.  William's  wife  was  to 
"live  catholically." 

2  "  Ce  qu'on  debite  sur  l'intcntion  du  Roi  d't'tablir  aux  Pays  Bas  l'inquisi- 


POPULAR  DISAFFECTION.  295 

Inquisition  in  the  Netherlands  was,  it  wanted  some  of  the 
barbarous  features  that  belonged  to  the  Holy  Office  in 
Spain.  It  was  said  by  Philip,  and  has  been  urged  by  his 
defenders  since,  that  the  persecuting  edicts  were  the  work 
of  Charles,  and  that  his  successor  simply  continued  them 
in  operation.  This  statement  overlooks  the  circumstances 
that  they  put  the  authority  of  Charles,  popular  though 
he  was,  to  a  severe  test ;  that  they  were  not  systematically 
enforced  ;  that  the  cruelties  inflicted  under  them  had  more 
and  more  awakened  the  hostility  of  the  people  to  such 
measures  ;  and  that  in  the  interval  between  the  promul- 
gation of  them  by  Charles  and  the  renewal  of  them  by 
Philip,  the  new  opinions  had  gained  a  wider  acceptance.1 

As  the  Inquisition  proceeded  with  its  bloody  work,  the 
indignation  of  the  people  found  utterance  through  Orange 
and  Egmont,  who  remonstrated  against  the  cruelties 
which  were  inflicted,  and  complained  to  the  King  of  Gran- 
velle,  on  whom  they  laid  the  responsibility  of  everything 
that  was  done. 

Granvelle  is  exculpated  by  Philip  from  all  responsi- 
bility for  the  introduction  of  the  new  bishops ;  and  he 
did  not  originate  some  other  obnoxious  measures  which 
were  laid  to  his  credit.2  His  impulses  were  not  cruel. 
But  the  lords  Avere  not  out  of  the  way  in  finding  in 
him    the  embodiment    of   the  foreign  domination  which 

tion  d'Espagne,  est  egalement  faux;  jamais  le  cardinal  ne  lui  a  fait  cette  prop- 
osition, ni  lui-meme  n'y  a  pense.  D'ailleurs  Pinquisition  des  Pays-Baa  est 
plus  improvable  que  celle  d'Kspagnc."  Gachard,  Correspondance,  de  Philippe 
II.,  i.  207." 

1  Orange  sets  forth  some  of  these  altered  circumstances  in  a  letter  to  the  Re- 
gent (January  24,  1566).  He  speaks  of  the  Placards  as  "  quelquefois  limites  et 
non  ensuivis  ii  la  rigcur,  mesmc  en  temps  que  la  mi  sere  universelle  n'estoit  si 
aspre  comnfie  maintenant  et  notre  peuple,  par  imitation  et  practicques  de  nos 
voisins,  non  taut  enclen  a  novellitc,"  etc.  He  depicts  plainly  the  fatal  eonse 
quences  that  will  result  from  perseverance  in  the  severe  policy  of  the  King. 
Groen  Van  Prinsterer,  Archives  <Iv  la  Maison  <P  Orange-Nassau,  tome  ii.  p.  19. 

'l  The  points  on  which  Granvelle  was  erroneously  accused  are  presented  by 
Gachard,  Correspondance,  etc.,  1.  clxx.  seq.  (Preliminary  Rapport).  One  of 
the  worst  things  that  Granvelle  did  was  to  recommend  the  kidnapping  of  Will- 
iam's son,  who  was  taken  from  Louvain,  where  he  was  studying,  and  carried  to 
Spain.    There  he  was  kept,  and  trained  up  in  the  Catholic  religion. 


296  THE  REFORMATION  IN   THE  NETHERLANDS.1 

was  striking  at  the  liberties  of  the  country.  Whatever 
opinion  he  might  privately  hold  as  to  the  wisdom  of  some 
of  the  measures  of  Philip,  he  never  faltered  in  his  obe- 
dience. He  knew  no  higher  law  than  the  will  of  his 
master.  The  new  arrangement  of  dioceses  abridged  his 
own  episcopal  power,  and  would  naturally  be  unwelcome  ; 
but  when  he  was  made  Archbishop  of  Mechlin,  and  then, 
at  the  intercession  of  the  Regent,  received  from  Rome  the 
cardinal's  hat,  the  personal  dislike  of  the  lords  to  him  as 
an  upstart,  and  their  patriotic  opposition  to  the  policy  of 
which  he  was  the  chief  executor,  reached  their  climax. 
The  effect  of  the  complaints  of  the  nobles  against  the  car- 
dinal was  to  kindle  in  Philip's  mind  an  inextinguishable 
hostility  to  them.1  At  length  the  Regent,  impatient  of 
her  dependent  position  with  reference  to  Granvelle,  and 
willing  that  he  should  bear  all  the  odium,  took  sides 
against  him.  The  excitement  became  so  formidable  that 
Philip  found  a  pretext  for  removing  him  from  the  coun- 
try, as  if  at  his  own  request ;  but  the  Inquisition  went 
forward  with  even  greater  energy  in  the  work  of  burning 
and  burying  alive  its  victims.  It  even  put  to  death  those 
who  were  merely  suspected  of  harboring  heretical  opinions. 
The  great  lords,  who  on  the  departure  of  the  Cardinal 
had  returned  to  the  Council,  from  which  they  had  previ- 
ously withdrawn,  felt  that  they  were  deemed  to  be  in 
part  answerable  for  the  incessant  murders  perpetrated  in 
the  name  of  justice  and  religion  ;  and  when  Philip  de- 
termined to  promulgate  the  decrees  of  Trent,  the  Prince 
of  Orange  broke  through  his  reserve  and  startled  the 
Council  by  a  bold  and  powerful  speech  upon  the  unright- 
eous and  dangerous  policy  which  the  government  was 
pursuing.  The  general  sense  of  the  country  recoiled  from 
that  strict  ecclesiastical  discipline,  which  the  reactionary 

1  In  the  letter  in  which  lie  denied  the  truth  of  certain  allegations  against 
Granvelle,  he  asserts  that  this  minuter  had  never  advised  him  to  pacify  the 
country  by  cutting  off  a  half  dozen  heads;  but  Philip  adds  to  the  denial: 
"Quoique  serait  peut-etre  pas  mal  de  recourir  a  ce  moyen."     Gachard,  i.  207. 


THE   COMPROMISE.  297 

Catholic  party  in  Europe  were  seeking  to  establish.  It 
was  determined  to  dispatch  Egmont  to  Madrid  to  open 
the  eyes  of  the  King  to  the  real  situation.  The  cordiality 
with  which  he  was  received,  and  the  honors  that  were 
rendered  him  in  the  Spanish  court,  made  him  satisfied 
with  the  smooth  but  vague  and  unmeaning  assurances  of 
Philip.  Egmont  was  the  more  incensed,  when,  after  his 
return,  he  found  that  he  had  been  duped,  and  that  the  old 
edicts  were  to  be  sharply  enforced  without  a  jot  of  conces- 
sion.1 The  announcement  that  the  persecution  was  to  go 
on  without  the  least  mitigation,  filled  the  land  with  con- 
sternation. The  foreign  merchants  fled,  as  from  a  pesti- 
lence, and  Antwerp,  the  principal  mart,  was  silent.  The 
irritation  of  the  people  found  a  vent  in  a  multitude  of 
angry  or  satirical  publications,  which  no  vigilance  of  the 
Inquisition  could  prevent  from  seeing  the  light*2 

About  five  hundred  nobles,  to  whom  burghers  were 
afterwards  added,  united  in  an  agreement  called  the  Com- 
promise, by  which  they  pledged  themselves  to  withstand 
the  Spanish  tyranny,  the  Inquisition  that  was  crushing 
the  country,  and  every  violent  act  which  should  be  un- 
dertaken against  any  one  of  their  number.  In  this  league 
were  Count  Louis  of  Nassau,  a  man  of  high  courage, 
but  more  excitable  and  radical  than  his  brother  ;  the 
accomplished  St.  Aldegonde,  and  Brederode,  whose  char- 
acter was  less  entitled  to  respect,  but  who  was  full  of 
spirit  and  daring.  They  contemplated  at  the  outset  only 
legal  means  of  resistance.     But  in  their  ranks  were  found 

1  The  cruel  orders  of  Philip  are  given  in  his  famous  dispatch  from  the  forest 
of  Segovia  (October  17,  15G5).     Gachard,  i.  exxix. 

2  Granvelle's  correspondence  bears  constant  witness  to  the  general  antipathy 
towards  the  Spaniards — "La  mauvaisc  volonte*  que  Ton  temoigne  ici  univer- 
sellement  a  tousles  Espagnols,"  as  he  styles  it,  in  one  place  {PapiersoTEtat  <lu 
Cardinal  de  Grranvelle,  tome  vii.,  p.  52).  This  antipathy  be  attributes  to  the  in- 
dustry of  the  lords  in  propagating  calumnies  in  regard  to  the  intention  of  the 
King  to  bring  in  the  Spanish  Inquisition,  to  rule  there  as  lie  ruled  in  Italy,  etc. 
Granvelle  recommends  the  bestowal  of  offices  and  distinctions,  such  a>  places 
of  trust  in  Italy,  upon Netherlanders,  in  order  to  create  a  Spanish  feeling  among 
the  friends  of  persons  thus  honored,  and  among  aspirants  for  like  favors. 


298  THE   REFORMATION    IN   THE   NETHERLANDS. 

some  who  hoped  to  mend  their  fortunes  by  political  com- 
motion. The  great  nobles  stood  aloof  from  the  associa- 
tion. William  especially  was  wise  enough  to  perceive 
that  it  would  accomplish  nothing  effectual,  but  rather  im- 
peril the  cause  which  all  had  at  heart.  The  members 
resolved  on  a  great  public  demonstration,  and  waited  on 
the  Regent  in  a  body  with  a  petition  that,  until  a  repeal 
of  the  edicts  could  be  procured,  she  would  suspend  the 
execution  of  them.  She  bridled  her  indignation,  but  Bar- 
laymont,  one  of  the  Council,  was  known  to  have  styled 
them  "  a  band  of  beggars."  They  accepted  the  title  and 
adopted  the  beggar's  sack  and  bowl  for  their  symbols. 
Multitudes  of  people  began  now  to  assemble  all  over  the 
open  country,  for  the  purpose  of  listening  to  the  Calvinist 
preachers  and  of  worshipping  according  to  their  own 
preference.  From  ten  to  twenty  thousand  persons  would 
gather,  the  women  and  children  being  placed  for  safety 
in  the  centre,  and  the  whole  assembly  being  encircled  by 
armed  men,  with  watchmen  stationed  to  give  warning  of 
approaching  danger.  They  listened  to  a  sermon,  sang 
Psalms,  and  used  the  opportunity  to  perforin  the  rite  of 
baptism,  or  the  marriage  service  where  it  was  desired. 
Grange  obtained  from  the  Recent  the  allowance  that  the 
preaching  in  the  country,  outside  of  the  cities,  should  not 
be  disturbed.  The  popular  movement  was  so  powerful 
that  she  found  herself  helpless  (1566). 

Philip  had  stubbornly  refused  to  comply  with  the  urgent 
requests  of  the  Regent  that  the  edicts  might  be  softened. 
Two  nobles,  Berghen  and  Montigny,  were  sent  to  repre- 
sent to  him  the  condition  of  the  country,  and  the  extent  of 
the  popular  indignation.  The  King  at  length  recognized 
the  perils  of  the  situation,  and  wrote  to  the  Regent  that 
the  Inquisition  might  cease,  provided  the  new  bishops  were 
suffered  to  exercise  their  functions  freely  ;  that  he  was  dis- 
posed to  moderate  the  Placards,  but  that  time  would  be  re- 
quired to  mature  the  measure  ;  and  that  the  Regent  might 


ICONOCLASM.  299 

give,  not  only  the  Confederates,  but  others  also,  an  assur- 
ance of  pardon.  At  the  same  time,  on  the  9th  of  August, 
1566,  in  the  presence  of  a  notary,  and  before  the  Duke  of 
Alva  and  other*  witnesses,  he  signed  a  secret  declaration 
that,  notwithstanding  the  assurance  given  to  the  Duchess 
of  Parma,  since  he  had  not  acted  in  this  matter  freely  and 
spontaneously,  he  did  not  consider  himself  bound  by  that 
promise,  but  reserved  to  himself  the  right  to  punish  the 
guilty  parties,  and  especially  the  authors  and  fomenters 
of  the  sedition.1  He  wrote  also  to  the  Nuncio  of  the  Pope, 
with  an  injunction  of  secrecy,  an  expression  of  his  purpose 
to  maintain  the  Inquisition  and  the  edicts  in  all  their 
rigor.2  Philip  has  thus  left  behind  him  the  documentary 
proof  of  his  perfidy,  of  his  deliberate  design  to  break  his 
word  to  a  nation. 

While  the  country  was  thus  agitated,  in  the  summer  of 
1566,  there  burst  forth  the  storm  of  iconoclasm  that 
swept  over  the  land,  destroying  the  paintings,  images, 
and  other  symbols  and  instruments  of  Catholic  worship, 
from  those  which  adorned  the  great  cathedral  of  Antwerp, 
to  such  as  decorated  the  humblest  chapels  and  convents. 
In  Flanders  alone  more  than  four  hundred  churches  were 
sacked.  The  work  of  destruction  was  accomplished  by 
mobs  hastily  gathered,  and  was  one  fruit  of  the  excite- 
ment and  exasperation  provoked  by  the  terrible  persecu- 
tion. Magistrates  and  burghers,  whether  Catholic  or 
Protestant,  looked  on,  offering  no  resistance  to  the  prog- 
ress of  the  tempest.  However  it  may  be  condemned,  it 
was  not  exactly  like  the  invasion  of  the  temples  of  one 
religious  denomination  by  another.  These  edifices  were 
felt  to  belong  to  the  people  in  common  ;  all  had  some 
right   in    them.       Calvinists    at    that   period    habitually 

1  Gachard.  i.  cxxxiii.  443. 

2  Ibid.,  422.  See  also  Motley,  i.  531.  The  Nuncio,  the  Archbishop  of  Sor- 
rento, had  been  sent  to  the  Netherlands  ostensibly  to  look  after  the  reformation 
of  the  clergy :  really,  as  the  secret  correspondence  shows,  in  reference  to  the 
Inquisition  and  the  extirpation  of  heresy. 


300  THE  REFORMATION   IN   THE  NETHERLANDS^ 

looked  upon  the  use  of  images  in  worship,  and  upon  the 
mass,  as  forms  of  idolatry,  of  a  sin  explicitly  forbidden 
in  the  decalogue.  Similar  uprisings  of  the  populace  took 
place  in  France  and  in  Scotland,  and  from  the  same 
causes.  The  Protestant  ministers  and  the  Prince  of 
Orange,  with  other  chiefs  of  the  liberal  party,  generally 
denounced  the  image-breaking.1  The  effect  of  it  was  dis- 
astrous. What  the  iconoclasts  considered  the  destruction 
of  the  implements  of  an  impious  idolatry,  the  Catholics 
abhorred  as  sacrilege.  The  patriotic  party  was  divided, 
and  besides  this  advantage  gained  by  the  government,  a 
plausible  pretext  was  afforded  for  the  most  sanguinary 
retaliation.  The  Regent  was  obliged,  however,  to  make 
a  truce  with  the  Confederacy  of  nobles,  in  which  it  was 
agreed  that  the  Inquisition  should  be  given  up  and  lib- 
erty allowed  to  the  new  doctrine,  while  the  confederates 
in  return,  as  long  as  the  promises  to  them  should  be  kept, 
were  to  abandon  their  association.  Orange  undertook  to 
quell  the  disturbances  in  Antwerp,  and  Egmont  in  Flan- 
ders ;  the  latter  manifesting  his  loyalty  to  Catholicism 
and  his  anger  at  the  iconoclasts,  by  brutal  severities.  The 
Regent  exhibited  the  utmost  energy  in  repressing  disorder, 
and  in  punishing  the  offenders.  Valenciennes,  which  en- 
deavored to  stand  a  siege,  was  taken  and  heavily  pun- 
ished. Order  was  everywhere  restored.  Orange  foresaw 
what  course  Philip  would  pursue.  He  would  not  take  the 
oath  of  unlimited  obedience  to  what  the  King  might 
choose  to  command,  and  separating  regretfully  from  Eg- 
mont and  Home,  who  had  more  confidence  in  Philip,  he 
retired  to  Dillenburg,  in  Nassau,  the  ancient  seat  of  his 
family.     From  the  moment  when  Philip  heard  the  news 

1  Motley,  i.  570.  Whether  the  popular  leaders  encouraged  the  image-break- 
ing or  not,  is  one  of  the  disputed  points.  That  they  did  is  maintained  by  Koch, 
Untersuchunyen  iiber  die  h'mporung  u.  den  Abfall  d.  Niederiande  von  Spanien 
(1861)  p.  115  seq.  Juste  (ii.  184)  holds  the  contrary  opinion.  Koch  writes  in  a 
polemical,  partisan  spirit,  but  some  of  his  criticisms  upon  Motley  are  worthy 
of  attention. 


THE   COMING   OF   ALVA.  301 

of  the  iconoclastic  disturbances,  he  had  no  thought  but 
that  of  armed  coercion  and  vengeance.  While  he  was 
preparing  a  military  force  so  strong  that  he  expected  to 
cut  off  all  hope  of  resistance,  he  veiled  his  designs  by  as- 
surances to  the  Regent  and  to  the  Council  that  his  policy 
was  to  be  one  of  mildness,  clemency,  and  grace,  with  the 
avoidance  of  all  harshness.1  It  was  fortunate  that  there 
was  one  man  whom  he  could  not  deceive. 

What  the  Regent  most  deprecated  was  the  sending  of 
the  Duke  of  Alva  to  the  Netherlands,  to  whom  she  had 
a  strong  personal  antipathy,  and  whose  coming,  as  she 
knew,  would  undo  at  once  the  work  of  pacification,  which 
she  considered  herself,  through  her  resolute  proceedings, 
to  have  nearly  accomplished.  But  in  accordance  with 
Alva's  advice,  Philip  had  resolved  on  a  scheme  of  savage 
repression  and  punishment,  and  Alva  was  the  person  se- 
lected to  carry  it  out.  His  reputation  was  very  high  as 
a  military  man,  although  his  talents  seem  not  to  have 
fitted  him  for  the  management  of  large  armies  ;  he  had  a 
contracted,  but  clear  and  crafty  intellect,  immeasurable 
arrogance,  inflexible  obstinacy,  and  a  heart  of  stone. 
Conciliation  and  mercy  were  terms  not  found  in  his  vo- 
cabulary. His  theory,  like  that  of  Philip,  was  that  the 
great  lords  were  at  the  bottom  of  the  disaffection  of  the 
inferior  nobility,  and  that  these  in  turn  were  the  movers 
of  sedition  among  the  people.  Neither  the  King  nor 
his  General  could  comprehend  a  spontaneous,  common 
sentiment,  pervading  a  nation.  Alva  conceived  that  the 
great  mistake  of  Charles  V.  had  been  in  sparing  the  cap- 
tive leaders  in  the  Smalcaldic  war.  From  the  Emperor's 
experience  he  derived  a  conclusive  argument  against  every 
policy  but  that  of  unrelenting  severity  in  dealing  with 
rebels  and  heretics.  Such  was  the  man  who  was  chosen 
to  settle  the  disturbances  in  the  Netherlands.  He  con- 
ducted a  body  of  ten  thousand  Spanish  troops  from  Italy 

i  Gachard.  i.  xlviii.  487,  488. 


302  THE   REFORMATION  IN   THE  NETHERLANDS. 

to  that  country.  As  his  course  lay  near  to  Geneva,  Pope 
Pius  V.  desired  him  to  turn  aside  and  exterminate  this 
"  nest  of  devils  and  apostates."  But  he  declined  to  devi- 
ate from  his  chosen  route,  maintained  perfect  discipline 
among  his  soldiers  during  the  long  and  perilous  march, 
and  even  gave  a  sort  of  organization  to  the  hundreds  of 
courtesans  who  followed  his  army.  On  his  arrival,  he 
endeavored  to  disarm  suspicion,  and  gradually  made 
known  the  extent  of  the  autliority  committed  to  him, 
which  was  equivalent  to  that  of  a  dictator.  The  Regent 
found  herself  wholly  divested  of  real  power.  Egmont  and 
Horn  were  decoyed  to  Brussels  by  gracious  and  flatter- 
ing words,  and  then  treacherously  arrested  and  cast  into 
prison.  The  terrible  tribunal  was  erected,  which  was  ap- 
propriately named  by  the  people,  "  the  Council  of  Blood," 
and  the  work  of  death  began.  Soon  the  prisons  were 
crowded  with  inmates,  not  a  few  of  whom  were  dragged 
from  their  beds  at  midnight.  The  executioners  were 
busy  from  morning  till  evening.  Among  the  victims,  the 
rich  were  specially  numerous,  since  one  end  which  Alva 
kept  in  view,  was  the  providing  of  a  revenue  for  his 
master.  Every  one  who  had  taken  part  in  the  petitions 
against  the  new  bishoprics  or  the  Inquisition,  or  in  favor 
of  softening  the  edicts  of  persecution,  was  declared  guilty 
of  high  treason.  Every  nobleman  who  had  been  concerned 
in  presenting  the  petitions,  or  had  approved  of  them  ;  all 
nobles  and  officers  who,  under  the  plea  of  a  pressure  of 
circumstances,  had  permitted  the  sermons ;  every  one 
who  had  taken  part,  in  any  way,  in  the  heretical  mass 
meetings,  and  had  not  hindered  the  destruction  of  the 
images ;  all  who  had  expressed  the  opinion  that  the  King 
had  no  right  to  take  from  the  provinces  their  liberty,  or 
that  the  present  tribunal  was  restricted  by  any  laws  or 
privileges,  were  likewise  made  guilty  of  treason.  Death 
and  loss  of  property,  were  the  invariable  penalty.  In 
three  months  eighteen  hundred  men  were  sent  to  the  scaf- 


THE   MEASURES    OF   ALVA.  303 

fold.  Persons  were  condemned  for  singing  the  songs  of  the 
Grueux,  or  for  attending  a  Calvinistic  burial  years  before ; 
one  for  saying  that  in  Spain,  also,  the  new  doctrine  would 
spread  ;  and  another  for  saying  that  one  must  obey  God 
rather  than  man.  Finally,  on  the  16th  of  February, 
1568,  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  Netherlands,  with  a  few 
exceptions  that  were  named,  were  actually  condemned  to 
death  as  heretics  ! 

Orange  was  active  in  devising  means  of  deliverance. 
His  brother,  Louis  of  Nassau,  entered  Friesland,  in  April, 
1568,  at  the  head  of  an  army,  and  gained  a  victory  over 
the  forces  commanded  by  Count  Aremberg.  In  order  to 
strike  terror  and  to  secure  himself  in  the  rear,  Alva  hur- 
ried through  the  process  against  Egmont  and  Horn,  and 
they  were  beheaded  in  the  great  square  at  Brussels.  Alva 
then  marched  against  the  army  of  Louis,  which  he  de- 
feated and  dispersed.  He  succeeded,  also,  by  avoiding  a 
combat,  in  baffling  William,  whose  army  was  composed  of 
materials  that  could  not  long  be  kept  together.  The  rule 
of  Alva  was  the  more  firmly  established  by  the  unsuc- 
cessful attempts  to  overthrow  it,  and  he  pursued  for  several 
years  longer  his  murderous  work.  The  entire  number  of 
judicial  homicides  under  his  administration,  he  reckoned 
himself  at  eighteen  thousand.  Multitudes  emigrated  from 
the  country  ;  manufactories  were  deserted,  and  business 
was  paralyzed.  In  1569,  he  determined  to  put  in  opera- 
tion a  system  of  taxation  that  should  fill  the  coffers  of  the 
King.  He  ordained  that  an  extraordinary  tax  should  be 
levied,  of  one  per  cent,  on  property  of  all  kinds  ;  and  that 
a  permanent  tax  should  be  paid,  of  five  per  cent,  on  every 
sale  of  real  estate,  and  ten  per  cent,  on  every  sale  of  mer- 
chandise. This  scheme,  as  ill  calculated  for  its  end  as  it 
was  barbarous  in  its  oppressiveness,  raised  such  a  storm  of 
opposition,  that  Alva  himself  was  moved  to  make  a  com- 
promise, which  consisted  in  postponing  the  execution  of  it 
for  two  years.     His  enemies,  Granvelle  and  others,  were 


304  THE   REFORMATION   IN   THE   NETHERLANDS. 

continually  laboring  to  undermine  the  King's  confidence 
in  him,  and  not  wholly  without  success.  In  1570,  an  act 
of  amnesty  was  solemnly  proclaimed  at  Antwerp,  which, 
however,  left  the  old  edicts  in  full  force,  and  only  or- 
dained that  those  against  whom  nothing  was  to  be  charged, 
should  go  unpunished,  provided  within  a  definite  time  they 
should  penitently  sue  for  grace  £nd  obtain  absolution  from 
the  Church !  The  spirit  of  resistance  had  been  slowly 
awakening,  and  it  gathered  strength  from  these  senseless 
proceedings.  When,  on  the  31st  of  July,  1571,  Alva  com- 
manded that  the  taxes  should  be  levied  according  to  his 
scheme,  the  shops  were  closed,  and  the  people  of  all  the 
provinces  assumed  so  menacing  an  attitude  that  he  deemed 
it  best  to  except  four  articles  —  corn,  wine,  flesh,  and  beer 
—  from  the  operation  of  his  decree.  But  this  did  not 
produce  the  desired  effect :  labor  and  traffic  were  sus- 
pended. Alva  was  deeply  incensed  and  ready  to  set  the 
hangman  at  work  again,  when  he  heard  of  the  capture  of 
Briel  by  the  "  sea-beggars "  as  they  were  called  ;  the 
hardy  inhabitants  of  the  coasts  of  Holland  and  Zealand, 
who  had  organized  themselves  into  predatory  bands,  under 
their  admiral,  William  de  la  Mark.  The  Prince  of  Grange 
was  unremitting  in  his  exertions  to  raise  forces  capable  of 
effecting  the  deliverance  of  his  country.  Holland  and 
Zealand  threw  off  the  yoke  of  Alva,  and,  in  accordance 
with  William's  suggestions,  adopted  a  free  constitution. 
By  the  estates  of  Holland,.  William  was  recognized  as  the 
King's  St  a< It  holder,  the  show  of  a  connection  with  Spain 
being  not  yet  abandoned.  He  was  at  the  head  of  an 
army  with  every  hope  of  success,  when  the  news  of  the 
slaughter  of  St.  Bartholomew  and  of  the  death  of  Coligny, 
which  cut  off  the  expectation  of  aid  from  France,  disap- 
pointed this  hope.  Mons,  where  his  brother  was,  had 
to  be  given  up,  and  the  army  melted  away.  But  Alva 
was  weary  of  his  office  and  began  to  be  sensible  of  his 
failure  to  effect  the  result  which  he  had  been  so  confident 


THE   RISE   OF   THE   DUTCH   REPUBLIC.  305 

of  his  ability  to  secure.  The  boundless  hatred  of  the 
people  against  him  was  daily  manifest.  He  read  it  in 
the  looks  of  all  whom  he  met.  Philip,  though  slow  to 
learn,  began  to  see  that  his  hopes  had  not  been  fulfilled. 
Alva  sought  and  obtained  a  recall,  and,  at  the  end  of  the 
year  1573,  left  the  Netherlands,  never  to  return. 

From  the  capture  of  Briel  may  be  dated  the  com- 
mencement of  the  loii£  and  arduous  struggle  which 
resulted  in  the  building  up  of  the  Dutch  Republic,  and 
the  ultimate  prostration  of  the  power  of  Spain.  The 
most  powerful  empire  in  the  world  was  kept  at  bay,  and 
eventually  defeated  by  a  few  small  states  which  were 
goaded  to  resistance  by  unparalleled  cruelty,  and  in- 
spired with  an  unexampled  degree  of  patriotic  self- 
sacrifice.  The  hero  of  this  memorable  struggle  was 
William  of  Orange.  Requesens,  the  successor  of  Alva, 
equaled  his  predecessor  in  military  skill,  and  was  even 
more  dangerous,  in  consequence  of  his  conciliatory  tem- 
per, which  might  divide  and  deceive  his  antagonists.  A 
delusive  amnesty  was  more  to  be  dreaded  than  open  and 
fierce  hostility.  In  the  field,  the  Spaniards  were  victori- 
ous. In  1574,  Louis  of  Nassau  was  defeated  and  slain. 
But  they  experienced  a  reverse  in  the  unsuccessful  siege 
of  Leyden,  whose  heroic  defense  is  one  of  the  most  nota- 
ble events  of  the  long  war.  A  new  Protestant  state  was 
growing  up  in  the  North,  under  the  guidance  of  Orange  ; 
and  all  negotiations  looking  to  peace  were  fruitless,  since 
Spain  refused  to  grant  toleration.  This  was  the  one 
thing  which  Philip  would  not  yield.  He  could  not  con- 
sent to  rule  over  heretics.  In  the  South,  where  Catholi- 
cism prevailed,  Requesens  was  more  successful.  But  the 
death  of  this  commander,  in  1576,  was  followed  by  a 
frightful  revolt  of  his  soldiers  in  the  various  cities  where 
they  were  stationed ;  and  the  scenes  of  murder  and  pil- 
lage that  attended  it,  which  were  most  appalling  in  pop- 
ulous and  wealthy  Antwerp,  taught   the   southern   prov- 

20 


306  THE   REFORMATION   IN   THE   NETHERLANDS. 

inces  what  they  had  to  dread  from  Spanish  domination. 
The  nobles  of  Flanders  and  Brabant,  instead  of  seeking 
help  from  Philip,  applied  to  Orange  and  the  northern 
provinces ;  and  in  the  pacification  of  Ghent,  for  the  first 
time,  the  Netherlands  were  united  in  an  agreement  to 
expel  the  Spaniards,  and  to  maintain  religious  toleration. 
Don  John,  of  Austria,  the  successor  of  Requesens,  was 
brought  to  the  point  of  issuing  an  edict  which  conceded 
the  points  contained  in  the  Ghent  pacification.  The  re- 
jection of  these  terms  by  William  of  Orange  has  been 
considered,  by  his  adversaries,  proof  positive  that  ambi- 
tion, not  patriotism,  was  his  ruling  motive.  But  the  con- 
cessions of  Don  John  involved  the  exclusion  of  the  public 
profession  of  Protestantism  from  all  places  where  it  was 
not  established  at  the  date  of  the  pacification  ;  and,  con- 
sequently, the  banishment  from  their  homes  of  thousands 
of  peaceful  families,  as  well  as  the  insecurity  of  the  prov- 
inces where  Protestantism  was  allowed  to  continue.  More 
than  all,  William  distrusted  the  sincerity  of  Spain,  and 
his  suspicions,  which  had  their  ground  in  former  experi- 
ences of  false  dealing,  were  strengthened  by  information 
acquired  from  intercepted  letters.1  It  was  too  late  for  a 
reconciliation  with  Philip.  But  the  Flemish  and  Bra- 
bant nobles  were  jealous  of  the  eminence  conceded  to  the 
Prince  of  Orange.  The  Union  was  weakened,  and  the 
war  broke  out  again,  in  which  the  troops  of  Don  John 
gained  the  victory.  But  the  same  year,  on  the  1st  of 
October,  1578,  their  leader  died,  wearied  with  the  diffi- 
culties of  his  office,  and  disheartened  by  the  treatment 
which  he  had  received  at  the  hands  of  Philip. 

Alexander  of  Parma,  perhaps  the  ablest  general  of  the 
time,  was  next  entrusted  with  the  reins  of  government. 
Experience  had  shown  the  patriotic  party  that  the  nobil- 
ity of  the  southern  provinces  were  not  to  be  relied  on ; 
and,  in   January,  1579,  there  was  formed,  in  the  North, 

1  Motley,  iii.  10G. 


APOLOGY  OF  WILLIAM.  307 

i 
the  Utrecht  Union,   in  which  were  combined  Holland, 

Zealand,  and  five  other  provinces.  It  was  a  confederacy 
for  common  defense,  and  was  the  germ  of  the  Dutch 
Republic.  It  was  formed  "  in  the  name  of  the  King  ; " 
but  two  years  afterwards,  this  fiction  was  dropped,  and  in- 
dependence declared.  In  March,  1580,  Philip  proclaimed 
William  an  outlaw,  and  set  a  price  on  his  head.  Philip 
taxed  him  with  ingratitude  for  the  favors  which  had  been 
bestowed  on  him  by  Charles  V.,  charged  him  with  hav- 
ing fomented  all  heresy  and  sedition,  with  having  ac- 
tively countenanced  the  plundering  of  the  churches  and 
cloisters ;  in  fine,  with  being  responsible  for  all  the  mis- 
eries of  the  country.  The  document  further  charged 
him  with  cherishing  jealousy  and  mistrust,  like  Cain  and 
Judas,  and  from  the  same  cause,  an  evil  conscience. 
Any  one  who  would  deliver  him,  dead  or  alive,  was  to 
receive  twenty-five  thousand  crowns,  to  have  pardon  for 
all  offenses,  and,  in  case  he  belonged  to  the  burgher  class, 
to  be  elevated  to  the  rank  of  a  nobleman.  In  response 
to  these  accusations,  William  published  his  "  Apology," 
or  defense.  He  counted  this  outlawry  and  accumulation 
of  charges  against  him,  as  the  greatest  honor,  since  they 
showed  that  he  had  done  all  in  his  power  to  establish  the 
freedom  of  a  noble  nation,  and  to  deliver  it  from  a  god- 
less tyranny.  He  respected  Charles  V.,  but  the  favors 
which  he  had  received  from  the  Emperor  had  been  re- 
turned in  full  measure  by  the  public  services  which  Will- 
iam had  rendered  at  great  cost.  To  the  unfounded 
aspersions  of  a  personal  nature  which  Philip  had  inter- 
woven with  his  indictment,  William  retorted  with  accu- 
sations equally  grave  against  the  private  life  of  the  King. 
Philip  had  stigmatized  him  as  a  foreigner,  because  he 
happened  to  have  first  seen  the  light  in  Germany ;  but 
his  ancestors  were  of  higher  rank  than  those  of  Philip, 
and  had  held  power  in  the  Netherlands  for  seven  genera- 
tions.    Philip  had  set  out  to   trample    under   foot   the 


308  THE   REFORMATION  IN   THE  NETHERLANDS.  , 

rights  and  institutions  of  the  country.  He  talked  only  of 
unconditional  obedience,  as  if  the  people  of  the  Nether- 
lands were  Neapolitans,  or  Milanese,  or  savage  Indians. 
The  Emperor  Charles  had  predicted  the  evils  that  would 
result  from  the  Spanish  pride  and  insolence  of  his  son  ; 
but  neither  the  admonition  of  so  great  a  father,  nor 
justice,  nor  his  oath,  could  change  his  nature,  or  curb  his 
tyrannical  will.  He  had  beaten  the  French  by  means  of 
William's  countrymen,  and  owed  the  treaty  of  peace,  in 
good  part,  to  William  himself ;  but  so  far  was  Philip 
from  feeling  any  emotion  of  gratitude,  that  William,  to 
his  amazement,  had  heard  from  the  lips  of  Henry  II.,  of 
Alva's  secret  conferences  with  him  upon  the  extermina- 
tion of  all  Protestants,  in  both  countries.  William,  since 
his  boyhood,  had  given  little  attention  to  matters  of  faith, 
and  of  the  Church ;  but,  he  says,  from  his  compassion  for 
the  victims  of  the  Inquisition,  and  his  indignation  at  the 
tyranny  practiced  against  his  country,  he  had  resolved  to 
exert  all  his  powers  to  remove  the  Spaniards  out  of  it, 
and  to  suppress  the  bloody  tribunals.  He  had  never  ap- 
proved of  the  iconoclasm,  and  similar  outbreakings  of  vio- 
lence. That  he  had  sufficient  reason  for  fl}7ing  from  the 
country,  was  fully  evinced  by  the  execution  of  Egmont 
and  Horn,  the  carrying  of  his  innocent  son,  who  was  a 
student  at  Louvain,  to  Spain,  by  Philip's  order,  the  con- 
fiscation of  his  property,  and  the  sentence  of  death  pro- 
nounced against  him.  Everywhere,  said  William,  Philip 
has  trodden  under  foot  our  rights  and  broken  his  oath  ; 
we  must,  therefore,  rise  in  self-defense  against  him  and 
repel  this  unparalleled  tyranny.  As  for  mistrust,  De- 
mosthenes inculcated  that  as  the  strongest  bulwark  against 
tyranny;  and  yet  the  Macedonian  Philip  wis  a  feeble 
novice  in  tyranny  compared  with  the  Spanish  Philip. 

There  is  no  reason  to  question  the  sincerity  of  William's 
patriotism.1     His  indifference  respecting  the  controverted 

1  Writers  who  would  make  ambition  the  moving  spring  of  his  character,  do 


ASSASSINATION   OF    WILLIAM.  309 

questions  of  religion  was  broken  up  by  the  sight  of  the 
atrocious  cruelties  inflicted  by  the  Inquisition  upon  his 
countrymen.  He  examined  the  questions  at  issue,  and 
practically,  as  well  as  theoretically,  embraced  the  Protes- 
tant faith.  It  is  no  reproach  to  him  that  he  early  pene- 
trated the  character  of  the  gloomy  and  perfidious  ruler 
who  was  bent  on  enslaving  the  Netherlands  to  himself 
and  to  the  Pope ;  and  that  he  had  less  and  less  hope  of 
the  practicableness  of  procuring  any  amelioration  of  his 
policy.  But  William,  in  the  incipient  stages  of  the  con- 
flict, was  wisely  resolved  to  keep  within  the  limits  of  the 
law,  and  to  avoid  extreme  and  violent  measures,  so  long 
as  this  moderation  should  be  possible.1  If,  at  the  outset 
of  his  career,  he  was  not  free  from  ambition,  his  character 
was  more  and  more  purified  by  danger  and  suffering. 
He  must  be  allowed  a  place  among  patriots  like  Epam- 
inondas  and  Washington,  and  he  deserves  to  be  called  the 
father  of  a  nation.  At  length,  after  six  ineffectual  at- 
tempts of  the  sort,  a  fanatical  Catholic  succeeded,  on  the 
18th  of  July,  1584,  in  assassinating  William.  It  was 
characteristic  of  Philip  to  pay  grudgingly  to  the  heirs  of 
the  murderer  the  promised  reward. 

Upon  the  formation  of  the  Utrecht  Union,  the  greater 
part  of  the  Catholic  provinces  in  the  South  entered  into 
an  arrangement  with  Parma.  Parma  granted  liberal 
terms  to  the  cities  which,  one  after  another,  fell  into  his 
hands.  Antwerp  was  promised  that  its  citadel  should 
not  be  repaired  ;  that  a  Spanish  garrison  should  not  be 

full  justice  to  his  high  intellectual  powers.  See,  for  example,  Bentivoglio, 
Delia  Guerra  di  Fiandra,  i.  47,  iii.  132. 

1  Some  candid  historians,  as  Juste  and  Prescott,  find  a  disagreeable  Macchia- 
vellian  element  in  the.  shrewdness  and  reserve  of  William.  To  others,  this 
quality  does  not  pass  the  bounds  of  a  statesmanlike  sagacity  and  a  justifiable 
prudence.  Goethe,  in  his  play  of  "Egmont,"  makes  the  Regent  say  of  him: 
"  Oranien  sinnt  nichts  (lutes,  seine  Gedanken  reichen  in  die  Feme,  er  ist  heim- 
lich,"  etc. ;  and  Orange  says  to  Egmont:  "  Ich  trage  viele  Jahre  her  alle  Ver- 
haltnisse  am  Herzen,  Ich  stehe  immer  wie  iiber  einem  Schachspiele  und  halts 
keinen  Zug  des  Gegners  fur  unbedeutend." 


310  TRE   REFORMATION   IN   THE   NETHERLANDS. 

quartered  on  the  inhabitants.  On  this  one  condition  the 
King  insisted,  that  the  Catholic  worship  should  be  restored, 
and  Protestantism  be  abolished.  The  utmost  that  he 
could  be  persuaded  to  grant  was  that  two  years  should 
be  allowed  the  inhabitants  of  every  place  either  to  become 
Catholic  or  to  quit  the  country.  Brabant  and  Flanders 
were  recovered  to  Spain. 

The  archives  of  Simancas  have  disclosed  the  fact, 
which  was  not  known  to  Parma  himself,  in  consequence 
of  his  death  before  the  execution  of  the  design,  that 
Philip  was  on  the  point  of  removing  him  from  his  com- 
mand. Instigated,  perhaps,  by  jealousy,  on  the  alleged 
ground  that  Parma  had  given  too  little  authority  to  Span- 
iards, and  for  other  reasons  of  even  less  weight,  Philip  had 
actually  determined  to  displace  the  general  who  had  re- 
conquered for  him  the  southern  provinces  of  the  Nether- 
lands, and  twice  carried  his  victorious  arms  into  France, 
forcing  Henry  IV.  to  raise  the  siege  of  Paris  and  of 
Rouen.  The  Kino;  did  not  shrink  from  the  ingratitude 
involved  in  such  an  act,  and  from  the  indignant  condemna- 
tion which  the  public  opinion  of  Europe  would  have  pro- 
nounced upon  it.1  It  was  characteristic  of  Philip  to 
seek  the  accomplishment  of  his  ends  by  indirection  and 
falsehood. 

The  death  of  William  did  not  destroy  the  Republic 
which  he  had  called  into  being.  In  Maurice,  his  second 
son  —  for  his  eldest  son  was  detained  in  Spain  and 
brought  up  to  serve  the  Spanish  government  —  the  party 
of  liberty  found  a  head  who  was  possessed  of  distin- 
guished military  ability.  The  new  commonwealth  grew 
in  power.  The  Dutch  sailors  captured  the  vessels  of 
Spain  on  every  sea  where  they  appeared,  and  attacked 
her  remotest  colonies.  The  magnificent  schemes  of  Philip 
were  doomed  to  an  ignominious  failure.  His  despotic 
system  had  full  sway  in  Spain,  but  it  brought  ruin  upon 
1  Gachard,  ii.  lxxxi. 


RELIGIOUS   PARTI E S.  311 

the  country.  His  colossal  armada,  which  was  slowly 
prepared  at  enormous  cost,  for  the  conquest  of  England, 
was  shattered  in  pieces.  He  had  planned  to  turn  Franco 
into  a  Spanish  province,  but  he  was  forced  to  conclude 
the  peace  of  Vervins  with  Henry  IV.,  and  thereby  to 
concede  the  superiority  of  the  French  power.  Under 
Philip  IH.,  his  imbecile  successor,  Spain  was  driven  to 
conclude  a  truce  of  twelve  years  with  the  revolted  Neth- 
erlands ;  and  finally,  in  the  Peace  of  Westphalia,  was 
obliged  to  acknowledge  their  independence. 

The  absorbing  interest  of  the  great  struggle  with  Spain 
leaves  in  the  background  the  distinctively  religious  and 
theological  side  of  the  Reformation  in  the  Netherlands. 
Anabaptists  were  numerous,  but  their  wild  and  disor- 
ganizing theories  received  a  check  through  the  influence 
of  Menno,  who,  after  the  year  1586,  exerted  a  wholesome 
influence  amoiiff  them,  organizing  churches  which  he 
taught  and  regulated  for  many  years.  The  Mennonites 
were  free  from  the  licentious  and  revolutionary  principles 
which  had  covered  the  name  of  Anabaptist  with  reproach.1 
Apart  from  their  peculiarity  respecting  baptism,  their  re- 
jection of  oaths,  and  their  refusal  to  serve  in  war  and  in 
civil  offices,  together  with  the  ascetic  discipline  which 
they  adopted  —  a  point  on  which  they  became  divided 
among  themselves  —  they  were  not  distinguished  from 
ordinary  Protestants.  Yet  they  continued  to  be  con- 
founded with  the  fanatical  Anabaptists,  and  were  objects 
of  a  ferocious  persecution,  which  they  endured  with  heroic 
patience.  The  Calvinists  gradually  obtained  a  decided 
preponderance  over  the  Lutherans.  In  1561,  Guido  de 
Bres  and  a  few  other  ministers  composed  the  "  Confessio 
Belgica,"  which  was  revised  and  adopted  by  a  Synod  at 
Antwerp  in  1566.  This  creed  differs  from  the  "  Confessio 
Gallica"  chiefly  in  its  more  full  exposition  of  Baptism,  with 

1  See  the  art.  Menno  u.  die  Mcnnonitcn,  by  Van  Oosterzce,  in  Hcrzog,  Real- 
Encycl.  ix. 


312  THE  REFORMATION  IN   THE  NETHERLANDS., 

special  reference  to  the  Anabaptist  opinions.  The  Ana- 
baptists are  expressly  condemned  in  another  Article.  The 
Calvinists  sent  a  copy  of  their  Symbol,  with  a  Letter, 
to  the  King  of  Spain,  in  the  vain  hope  to  soften  his  ani- 
mosity against  them.  They  say  in  their  Letter  that 
"  they  were  never  found  in  arms  or  plotting  against  their 
sovereign ;  that  the  excommunications,  imprisonments, 
banishments,  racks,  and  tortures,  and  other  numberless 
oppressions  which  they  had  undergone,  plainly  demon- 
strate that  their  desires  and  opinions  are  not  carnal  ; " 
"  but  that  having  the  fear  of  God  before  their  eyes,  and 
being  terrified  by  the  threatening  of  Christ,  who  had  de- 
clared in  the  Gospel  that  he  would  deny  them  before 
God  the  Father,  in  case  they  denied  him  before  men, 
they  therefore  offered  their  backs  to  stripes,  their  tongues 
to  knives,  their  mouths  to  gags,  and  their  whole  bodies  to 
the  fire.'* 1 

Yet  the  Calvinists  of  the  Netherlands,  notwithstanding 
their  own  dreadful  sufferings,  did  not  themselves  relin- 
quish the  dogma  that  heresy  may  be  suppressed  by  the 
magistrate.  Their  difference  from  their  opponents  was 
not  on  the  question  whether  heresy  is  to  be  punished,  but 
how  heresy  is  to  be  defined.  This  dogma  they  introduce 
into  the  Belgic  Confession,2  and  into  their  letter  to  the 
King.  They  were  disposed,  where  they  had  the  power, 
to  inflict  disabilities  and  penalties  on  the  Anabaptists, 
even  when  they  were  peaceful  subjects.  It  must  not  be 
forgotten  that  at  the  very  time  when  Philip's  agents  were 
doing  their  terrible  work  in  the  Netherlands,  Queen  Eliz- 
abeth was  likewise  striving  to  enforce  uniformity  in  Prot- 
estant England.  With  one  hand  she  helped  the  Calvin- 
istic  subjects  of  Philip  ;  with  the  other  she  thrust  her  own 
Puritan  subjects  into  loathsome  dungeons.  Not  that 
Protestants  on  either  side  of  the  sea  were  capable  of  the 
atrocities  for  which  Philip  was  responsible.     And  a  dif- 

1  Brandt,  i.  158.  2  Art.  xxxvi.  "De  Magistratu." 


RELIGIOUS   PERSECUTION.  313 

ference  of  degree  in  the  exercise  of  the  inhumanity,  which 
was  the  fruit  of  a  false  principle,  is  a  circumstance  of  the 
highest  importance.  But  the  principle  was  at  the  root 
the  same.  Hence  the  doctrine  of  religious  toleration, 
which  was  avowed  and  practiced  by  William  of  Orange 
and  a  part  of  his  supporters,  is  the  more  honorable  to 
them,  in  contrast  with  the  prevalent  intolerance  of  the 
age.  As  early  as  1566,  in  his  speech  before  the  Regent 
and  the  Council,  William  denounced  persecution  as  futile, 
and  confirmed  his  assertion  by  an  appeal  to  experience,  to 
historical  examples,  ancient  and  recent.  "  Force,"  he 
said, "  can  make  no  impression  on  the  conscience."  He 
compared  inquisitors  to  physicians  who,  instead  of  using 
mild  and  gentle  medicines,  are  "  for  immediately  burn- 
ing or  cutting  off  the  infected  part."  "  This  is  the 
nature  of  heresy,"  he  added,  "if  it  rests,  it  rusts  ;  but 
he  that  rubs  it,  whets  it."  2  At  a  later  time,  he  had 
to  withstand  the  importunities  of  his  friends,  who  wished 
to  use  force  against  the  Anabaptists.  St.  Aldegonde  re- 
ports that  to  his  arguments  in  behalf  of  such  a  measure, 
his  illustrious  chief  "  replied  pretty  sharply,"  that  the 
affirmation  of  the  adherents  of  that  sect  might  take  the 
place  of  an  oath,  and  that  "  we  ought  not  to  press  this 
matter  further,  unless  we  would  own  at  the  same  time, 
that  the  Papists  were  in  the  right,  in  forcing  us  to  a  re- 
ligion that  was  incompatible  with  our  consciences."  "  And 
upon  this  occasion,"  adds  St.  Aldegonde,  "  he  commended 
the  saying  of  a  monk  that  was  here  not  long  since,  who, 
upon  several  objections  brought  against  his  religion,  an- 
swered :  4  that  our  pot  had  not  been  so  long  upon  the  fire 
as  theirs,  whom  we  so  much  blamed  ;  but  that  he  plainly 
foresaw  that  in  the  course  of  a  pair  of  hundred  years, 
ecclesiastical  dominion  would  be  upon  an  equal  foot  in 
both  churches.' "  St.  Aldegonde  himself  states  that  a 
multitude  of  nobles   and  of  common  people  kept  away 

1  Brandt,  i.  164. 


314  THE   REFORMATION   IN   THE   NETHERLANDS., 

from  the  Calvinistic  assemblies  from  the  fear  "  of  a  new 
tyranny  and  yoke  of  spiritual  dominion."  The  Germans, 
especially,  he  says,  join  the  heterodox  "because  they 
dread  our  insufferable  rigidness."  1  In  15T8,  the  National 
Synod  of  all  the  reformed  churches  sent  up  to  the  Council 
a  petition  for  religious  toleration,  which  they  desired  for 
themselves  and  pledged  to  Roman  Catholics.  "  The  ex- 
perience of  past  years,"  say  the  Synod,  "  had  taught  them 
that  by  reason  of  their  sins  they  could  not  all  be  reduced 
to  one  and  the  same  religion ;  "  and  that  without  mutual 
toleration,  they  could  not  throw  off  the  Spanish  tyranny.2 
They  refer  to  the  rivers  of  blood  that  had  been  shed  in 
France  to  no  purpose,  in  the  effort  to  procure  unanimity 
in  religion. 

There  was  another  question  which  gave  ris3  to  division 
among  the  reformed,  the  question  of  the  relation  of  the 
Church  to  the  civil  authority.  The  Calvinists  insisted  on 
their  principle  of  the  autonomy  of  the  Church,  and  re- 
jected ecclesiastical  control  on  the  part  of  the  State.  As 
in  Geneva  and  in  Scotland,  they  demanded  that  the 
Church  should  be  not  separate,  but  distinct.  On  the 
contrary,  a  great  part  of  the  magistrates,  and  with  them 
an  influential  portion  of  the  laity,  especially  such  as  cared 
little  for  the  peculiarities  of  Calvinism  as  distinguished 
from  Lutheranism,  resisted  this  demand.  Thesa  claimed 
that  the  civil  authority  should  have  power  in  the  appoint- 
ment of  ministers  and  in  the  administration  of  Church 
government.  In  1576,  under  the  auspices  of  William  of 
Orange,  a  programme  of  forty  ecclesiastical  laws  was 
drawn  up,  in  conformity  with  this  principle.3  The  second 
Synod  of  Dort,  in  1578,  endeavored  to  realize  the  idea  of 
ecclesiastical  autonomy,  through  a  system  of  presbyteries 
and  of  provincial  and  national  synods.  But  the  result  of 
the  strife  was  that  the  Church  was  limited  to  a  provincial 
organization,  the  provinces  being  subdivided  into  classes, 
1  Brandt,  i.  333.  2  Ibid.,  i.  340.  3  Ibid.,  i.  318. 


LIBERALS    AND    CALVIXISTS.  315 

and  each  congregation  being  governed  according  to  the 
Presbyterian  order.  The  germs  of  the  Arminian  contro- 
versy are  obvious  in  the  last  quarter  of  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury. The  party  which  called  for  full  toleration,  and 
were  impatient  of  strict  creeds  and  a  rigid  discipline,  con- 
tended, also,  for  the  union  of  Church  and  State.  The 
Spanish  persecution  confirmed  the  Liberals  in  the  fear 
that  the  Church  would  subject  the  State  to  an  ecclesias- 
tical tyranny  ;  it  confirmed  the  Calvinists  in  the  fear  that 
the  State  would  subject  the  Church  to  a  political  des- 
potism. 


CHAPTER  X. 
THE  REFORMATION  IN   ENGLAND    AND   SCOTLAND. 

There  is  reason  to  believe  that  the  Lollards,  as  the 
disciples  of  Wickliffe  were  called,  were  still  numerous 
among  the  rustic  population  of  England  at  the  beginning 
of  the  sixteenth  century.  We  have  records  of  the  re- 
cantation of  some  and  the  burning  of  other  adherents  of 
this  sect  in  the  early  part  of  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII.1 
When  John  Knox  preached  in  the  North  of  England  and 
the  South  of  Scotland,  he  found  a  cordial  reception  for 
his  doctrine  in  districts  where  the  Lollards  lived.  The 
revival  of  learning  had  also  prepared  a  very  different 
class  in  English  society  for  ecclesiastial  reform.  Linguis- 
tic and  patristic  studies  had  begun  to  flourish  under  the 
influence  of  Thomas  More,  Colet,  Dean  of  St.  Paul's, 
Warham,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  and  other  friends 
of  Erasmus,  and  under  the  personal  influence  of  Erasmus 
himself.2  Wolsey,  whatever  may  have  been  his  faults, 
was  a  liberal  patron  of  learning.  He  obtained  leave  to 
suppress  not  less  than  twenty  smaller  monasteries,  and  to 
use  their  property  for  the  establishment  of  a  noble  col- 
lege, Christ  Church,  at  Oxford,  and  of  another  college 
as  a  nursery  for  it,  at  Ipswich.  His  fall  from  power  pre- 
vented the  full  accomplishment  of  the  vast  educational 
plans  which  form  his  best  title  to  esteem.  Wolsey  was 
disinclined  to  persecution,  and  preferred  to  burn  heretical 

1  Burnet,    History  of  the   Reformation  in  the  Church  of  England  (ed.  1825,^ 
6  vols.),  i-  37.     Hallam,  Const,  History  of  England,  ch.  li. 

2  G.  Weber,  Geschichte  cl.  Kirchenreformation  in  Crosabrittanien,  i.  140. 


PECULIARITY    OF    THE   ENGLISH   REFORMATION.  317 

books,  rather  than  heretics  themselves.1  Most  of  the 
friends  of  "  the  new  learning  "  were  disposed  to  remedy 
ecclesiastical  abuses.2/  The  writings  of  Luther  early  found 
approving  readers,  especially  among  the  young  men  at 
Oxford  and  Cambridge/  The  younger  generation  of 
Humanists  did  not  stop  at  the  point  reached  by  Colet  and 
More.  Tyndale  and  Frith,  both  of  whom  perished  as  mar- 
tyrs, and  their  associates,  read  the  German  books  with 
avidity.3  Tyndale's  version  of  the  New  Testament  was 
circulated  in  spite  of  the  efforts  of  the  government  to 
suppress  it.4  It  was  impossible  that  the  ferment  that  ex- 
isted on  the  continent  should  fail  to  extend  itself  across 
the  channel.  Yet  at  first  the  signs  were  not  auspicious 
for  the  new  doctrine.  King  Henry  VIII.  appeared  in  the 
lists  as  an  antagonist  of  Luther,  and  received  from  Leo 
X.,  in  return  for  his  polemical  book  upon  the  Sacraments, 
the  title  of  "  Defender  of  the  Faith."  5  Little  did  either 
of  them  imagine  that  the  same  monarch  would  shortly 
strike  one  of  the  heaviest  blows  at  the  Papal  dominion. 

The  peculiarity  of  the  English  Reformation  lies,  not  in 
the  separation  of  a  political  community  —  in  this  case  a 
powerful  nation  —  from  the  papal  see  ;  for  the  same  thing 
took  place  generally  where  the  Reformation  prevailed  ; 
but  it  lies  in  the  fact  that  it  involved  immediately  so  little 
departure  from   the  dogmatic  system   of   the   mediaeval 

1  Blunt,  History  of  the  Reformation  in  England  (from  1514  to  1547),  gives  an 
interesting  account,  and  presents  a  flattering  estimate,  of  the  services  of 
Wolsey. 

*2  See  the  sketch  of  Colet's  sermon  before  the  Convocation  of  Canterbury 
(1572)  in  Seebohm,  The  Oxford  Reformers  o/1498:  also  in  Blunt,  p.  10.  Mil- 
man,  Annals  of  St.  PauVs,  ch.  vi.,  gives  an  interesting  sketch  of  Colet's  life. 

3  Frith  was  burned  at  Smithticld  in  1533.  Tyndale  was  strangled  and  burned 
near  Brussels  in  1536. 

4  Erasmus,  in  a  letter  to  Luther,  speaks  of  the  warm  reception  of  his  writings 
in  England.  Krasmi  Opera,  iii.  445.  Warham,  in  a  letter  to  Wolsey,  under  date 
of  March  8,  1521,  reports  to  what  extent  Lutheran  books  had  found  readers  at 
Oxford.     Blunt,  p.  74. 

5  This  title  was  intended  for  himself  personally,  but  was  retained  after  his 
Dreach  with  Rome,  and  transmitted  to  his  successors.  Lingard,  History  of 
England,  vi.  90,  n. 


318       THE   REFORMATION   IN   ENGLAND   AND   SCOTLAND. 

Church.  At  the  outset,  the  creed,  and,  to  a  great  extent, 
the  polity  and  ritual,  of  the  Church  in  England  remained 
intact.  Thus  in  the  growth  of  the  English  Reformation, 
there  were  two  factors,  the  one,  in  a  sense,  political ;  the 
other,  doctrinal  or  religious.  These  two  agencies  might 
coalesce  or  might  clash  with  one  another.  They  could 
not  fail  to  act  upon  one  another  with  great  effect.  They 
moved  upon  different  lines ;  yet  there  were  certain 
principal  ends,  which,  from  the  beginning,  they  had  in 
common. 

Owing  to  this  peculiarity,  the  leaders  of  English  Re- 
form on  the  spiritual  side  did  not  play  the  prominent 
part  which  was  taken  by  the  Reformers  in  Scotland  and 
on  the  Continent.  In  other  countries,  the  political  ad- 
herents of  Protestantism  were  auxiliaries  rather  than 
principals.  The  foreground  was  occupied  by  men  like 
Luther,  Calvin,  and  Knox.  In  England  there  were  indi- 
viduals of  marked  learning,  energy,  and  courage  ;  but  to  a 
considerable  extent  they  were  cast  into  the  shade  by  the 
controlling  position  which  was  assumed  by  rulers  and 
statesmen.  The  English  Reformation,  instead  of  pursu- 
ing its  course  as  a  religious  and  intellectual  movement, 
was  subject,  in  an  important  degree,  to  the  disturbing 
force  of  governmental  authority,  of  worldly  policy.1 

Henry  VIII.  had  been  married,  in  his  twelfth  year,  to 
Catharine  of  Aragon,  the  widow  of  his  deceased  brother 
Arthur,  and  the  aunt  of  the  Emperor  Charles  V.  A 
dispensation  had  been  obtained  previously  from  Pope 
Julius  II.,  marriage  with  a  deceased  brother's  wife  being 
contrary  to  the  canon  law.  Scruples  had  been  entertained 
early  by  some  in  regard  to  the  validity  of  the  dispensa- 
tion, and,  consequently,  of  the  marriage.  Whether 
Henry  himself  shared  these  scruples  prior  to  his  ac- 
quaintance with  Anne  Boleyn,  it  may  not  be  easy  to  de- 
termine.    Nor  can  we  say  how  far  his  disappointment  in 

1  Macaulav,  Review  of  Hallam  (Essrtys,  i.  146). 


DIVORCE   OF   HENRY   VIII.  319 

not  having  a  male  heir  to  his  throne  may  have  prompted 
him  to  seek  for  a  divorce.  It  is  not  improbable  that  the 
death  of  his  children  excited  in  his  mind  a  superstitions 
feeling  respecting  the  lawfulness  of  his  connection  with 
Catharine.  Yet  according  to  her  solemn  testimony,  made 
in  his  presence,  the  marriage  with  Arthur  had  not  been 
consummated  ;  and  if  so,  the  main  ground  of  these  al- 
leged misgivings  and  of  the  application  for  the  annulling 
of  the  marriage  had  no  reality.  His  application  to 
Clement  VII.  for  the  annulling  of  the  marriage,  was 
founded  on  two  grounds :  first,  that  it  is  not  competent 
for  the  Pope  to  grant  a  dispensation  in  such  a  case  ;  and 
secondly,  that  it  was  granted  on  the  basis  of  erroneous 
representations.  Henry's  passion  for  Anne  Boleyn  made 
the  delay  and  vacillation  of  Clement  in  regard  to  the 
divorce  the  more  unbearable.  The  Pope  might  naturally 
shrink  from  annulling  the  act  of  his  predecessor  by  a 
decree  which  would  involve,  at  the  same  time,  a  restric- 
tion of  the  papal  prerogative.  But  the  real  and  obvious 
motive  of  his  procrastinating  and  evasive  conduct  was  his 
reluctance  to  offend  Charles  V.  This  temporizing  course 
in  one  whose  exalted  office  implied  a  proportionate  moral 
independence,  was  not  adapted  to  increase  the  loyalty  of 
the  King  or  of  his  people  to  the  Papacy.  By  the  advice 
of  Cranmer,  Henry  laid  the  question  of  the  validity  of 
the  dispensation  before  the  universities  of  Europe,  not 
abstaining,  however,  from  the  use  of  bribery  abroad,  and 
of  menaces  at  home.  Meantime  he  proceeded  to  the 
adoption  of  measures  for  reducing  the  power  of  the  Pope  : 
and  of  the  clergy  in  England.  Jealousy  in  regard  to  the 
wealth  and  the  usurpations  of  the  hierarchical  body,  which 
had  long  been  a  growing  feeling,  prepared  the  nation  for 
these  bold  measures.  One  sign  of  this  feeling  was  the 
satisfaction  which  had  been  felt  at  the  restraints  laid  upon 
the  privilege  of  clerical  exemption  from  responsibility  to 
the  civil  tribunals.     In  the  preceding  reign,  a  bishop  had 


320      THE   REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND   AND   SCOTLAND. 

said  that  such  was  the  prejudice  of  a  London  jury  against 
the  clergy,  that  it  would  convict  Abel  of  the  murder  of 
Cain.  The  fall  of  Wolsey,  who  was  ruined  by  the  failure 
of  the  negotiations  with  Rome  for  the  divorce,  and  by  the 
enmity  of  Anne  Boleyn,  intimidated  the  whole  clerical 
body,  and  made  them  an  easy  prey  to  the  King's  rapacity. 
"  The  authority  of  this  Cardinal,"  says  Hal],  the  old 
chronicler,  "  set  the  clergie  in  such  a  pride  that  they  dis- 
dained all  men,  wherefore  when  he  was  fallen  they  fol- 
owed  after." 1  Early  in  1531,  Henry  revived  an  old 
statute  of  Richard  II.,  and  accused  the  clergy  of  having 
incurred  the  penalties  of  proe?nunire  —  forfeiture  of  all 
movable  goods  and  imprisonment  at  discretion  —  for  sub- 
mitting to  Wolsey  in  his  character  of  papal  legate.  As- 
sembled in  convocation,  they  were  obliged  to  implore  his 
pardon,  and  obtained  it  only  in  return  for  a  large  sum  of 
money.  In  their  petition,  he  was  styled  "  the  Protector 
and  Supreme  Head  of  the  Church  and  Clergy  of  England," 
to  which  was  added,  after  long  debate,  the  qualifying 
phrase :  "as  far  as  is  permitted  by  the  law  of  Christ." 
Acts  of  Parliament  took  away  the  first-fruits  from  the 
Pope,  prohibited  appeals  from  ecclesiastical  courts  to  Rome, 
and,  after  the  consecration  of  Cranmer,  as  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury,  ordained  that  henceforward  the  consecration 
of  all  bishops  and  archbishops  should  be  consummated 
without  application  to  the  Pope.  Henry  was  married  to 
Anne  Boleyn  o"n  the  14th  of  November,  1532.  On  the 
14th  of  the  preceding  July,  at  Windsor,  he  saw  Catharine 
for  the  last  time,  who  had  been  his  faithful  wife  for 
twenty-two  years.  Eleven  weeks  after  the  marriage,  the 
king  authorized  Cranmer  to  decide  the  question  of  the 
divorce  without  fear  or  favor  !  Of  course  the  divorce  was 
decreed.  In  1534  the  King  was  required  by  the  Pope  to 
take  back  Catharine,  on  penalty  of  excommunication.  On 
the   9th  of  June  of  that  year,  a  royal  edict  was  issued, 

1  p.  774. 


ACT    OF    SUPREMACY.  321 

abolishing  the  Pope's  authority  in  England.  Parliament 
passed  the  act  of  supremacy,  "  That  the  King,  our  sov- 
ereign lord,  his  heirs  and  successors,  kings  of  this  realm, 
shall  be  taken,  accepted,  and  reputed  the  only  supreme 
head  in  earth  of  the  Church  of  England,  called  the  An- 
glicana  Ecclesia."  This  was  followed  by  another  great 
measure  for  the  further  humbling  of  ecclesiastical  power 
—  the  abolishing  of  the  cloisters  and  the  confiscation  of 
their  property  —  in  1536.  This  fell,  to  a  great  extent,  into 
the  hands  of  the  nobles  and  gentry,  and  had  a  powerful 
effect  in  binding  them  to  the  policy  of  the  king.  Subse- 
quently, the  larger  monasteries,  which  had  been  spared  at 
first,  shared  the  fate  of  the  inferior  establishments  ;  and 
by  the  expulsion  of  the  mitred  abbots  from  the  upper 
House,  the  preponderance  of  power  was  left  with  the 
secular  lords. 

Thus  the  kingdom  of  England  was  severed  from  the 
Papacy,  and  the  Church  of  England  brought  into  subjec- 
tion to  the  civil  authority.  The  old  English  feeling  of 
dislike  of  foreign  ecclesiastical  control  had  at  last  ripened 
into  a  verification  of  the  words  which  Shakespeare  puts 
into  the  mouth  of  King  John,  as  a  message  to  Pope  Inno- 
cent III. :  — 

"  Tell  him  this  tale;  and  from  the  mouth  of  England, 
Add  this  much  more,  —  that  no  Italian  priest 
Shall  tithe  or  toll  in  our  dominions; 
But  as  we  under  Heaven  are  supreme  head, 
So  under  him,  that  great  supremacy, 
Where  we  do  reign,  we  will  alone  uphold, 
Without  the  assistance  of  a  mortal  hand. 
So  tell  the  Pope :  all  reverence  set  apart, 
To  him  and  his  usurped  authority."1 

There  had  been  no  renunciation  of  Catholic  doctrines. 
The  hierarchy  still  existed  as  of  old,  but  with  the  King 
in  the  room  of  the  Pope,  as  its  earthly  head.  There  were 
two  parties  side  by  side  in  the  episcopal  offices  and  in  the 
Council ;  one  of  them  disposed  to  press  forward  to  other 

1  King  John,  act  iii.,  sc.  i. 
21 


322      THE   REFORMATION   IN   ENGLAND   AND   SCOTLAND. 

changes  in  the  direction  of  Protestantism  ;  the  other  bent 
on  upholding  the  ancient  creed  in  its  integrity.  The  Act 
of  Supremacy,  as  far  as  it  had  the  sympathy  of  the  peo- 
ple, could  not  fail  to  shake  their  reverence  for  the  entire 
system  of  which  the  Papacy  had  been  deemed  an  essen- 
tial part,  and  to  incline  many  to  substitute  the  authority 
of  the  Bible  for  that  of  the  Church ;  for  to  the  Bible  the 
appeal  had  been  made  in  the  matter  of  the  King's  di- 
vorce, and  the  Bible  and  the  constitution  of  the  primitive 
Church  had  furnished  the  grounds  for  the  overthrow  of 
papal  supremacy.  At  the  head  of  the  party  disposed  to 
Reform,  among  the  bishops,  was  Cranmer,  who  had  spent 
some  time  in  Germany,  and  had  married  for  his  second 
wife  a  niece  of  a  Lutheran  theologian,  Osiander.  Cran- 
mer is  well  characterized  by  Ranke  as  "  one  of  those 
natures  which  must  have  the  support  of  the  supreme  au- 
thoritv,  in  order  to  carry  out  their  own  opinions  to  their 
consequences  ;  as  then  they  appear  enterprising  and  spir- 
ited, so  do  they  become  pliant  and  yielding,  when  this 
favor  is  withdrawn  from  them  ;  they  do  not  shine  by 
reason  of  any  moral  greatness,  but  they  are  well  adapted 
to  save  a  cause  in  difficult  circumstances  for  a  more  favor- 
able time." 1  Latimer,  who  became  Bishop  of  Worcester, 
was  made  of  sterner  stuff.  Among  the  other  bishops  of 
Protestant  tendencies,  was  Edward  Fox,  who,  at  Smalcald, 
had  declared  the  Pope  to  be  Antichrist.  The  leader  of 
the  Protestant  party  was  Thomas  Cromwell,  who  was 
made  the  King's  Vicegerent  in  ecclesiastical  affairs,  who 
had  conducted  the  visitation  of  the  monasteries  which 
preceded  the  destruction  of  them,  and  was  an  adherent  of 
the  reformed  doctrine.     On  the  other  side  was  Gardiner, 

1  Englische  GescJiichte,  i.  204.    A  severe,  not  to  say  harsh,  estimate  of  Cran- 
mer is  given  by  Maeaulay,  Hist,  of  England,  i.  48;  Jievreiv  of Hallam  [Essays, 

i.  448).  "If,"  says  Hallam,  "  Ave  weigh  the  character  of  this  prelate  in  an 
equal  balance,  be  will  appear  far  indeed  removed  from  the  turpitude  imputed  to 
him  by  his  enemies;  yet  not  entitled  to  any  extraordinary  veneration."  Const. 
Hist.,  ch.  ii. 


THE   TEN   ARTICLES.  323 

Bishop  of  Winchester,  who  upheld  the  King's  Suprem- 
acy, but  was  an  unbending  advocate  of  the  Catholic  theol- 
ogy ;  together  with  Tunstal  of  Durham,  and  other  bishops. 
The  King  showed  himself,  at  first,  favorable  to  the 
Protestant  party.  The  English  Bible,  which  was  issued 
under  his  authority,  and  a  copy  of  Avlvich  was  to  be  placed 
in  every  church,  had  upon  the  title-page  the  inscription, 
issuing  from  his  mouth  :  "  Thy  word  is  a  lantern  unto  my 
feet."  2  In  1536,  ten  articles  were  laid  before  Convocation, 
adopted  by  that  body,  and  sent,  by  the  King's  order,  to 
all  pastors  as  a  guide  for  their  teaching.  The  Bible  and 
the  three  ancient  creeds  were  made  the  standard  of  doc- 
trine. Salvation  is  by  faith  and  without  human  merits. 
The  sacrament  of  the  altar  is  defined  in  terms  to  which 
Luther  would  not  have  objected.  The  use  of  images  and 
various  other  ceremonies,  auricular  confession,  and  the 
invocation  of  saints,  are  approved,  but  cautions  are  given 
against  abuses  connected  with  these  things.  The  admis- 
sion that  there  is  a  Purgatory  is  coupled  with  the  denial 
of  any  power  in  the  Pope  to  deliver  souls  from  it,  and 
with  the  rejection  of  other  superstitions  connected  with 
the  old  doctrine.  These  articles,  unsatisfactory  as  they 
were,  in  many  respects,  to  the  Protestants,  were  still  re- 
garded by  them  as  a  long  step  in  the  right  direction. 
The  Catholic  party  were  offended.  A  majority  of  the 
nation  still  clung  to  the  ancient  religion.  The  suppres- 
sion and  spoliation  of  the  monasteries,  which  were  prized 
as  dispensers  of  hospitality  and  sources  of  pecuniary 
advantage  to  the  rustic  population,  had  excited  much 
discontent,  especially  in  the  North  and  West,  where 
the  Catholics  were  most  numerous.  The  disaffection, 
which  was  heightened  by  the  leaning  of  the  govern- 
ment towards  Protestant  doctrine,  broke  out  in  the  rebel- 
lion of  1536,  which,  although  it  was  put  down  without 
concessions  to  the  promoters  of  it,  was  succeeded  by  a 

1  On  the  English  versions  of  the  Bible,  see  Anderson,  Annals  of  the  EngL 
Bible  (2  vols.  1845). 


324       THE   REFORMATION    IN   ENGLAND   AND    SCOTLAND. 

change  in  the  King's  ecclesiastical  policy.  The  Catholic 
faction  gained  the  ascendency,  and,  notwithstanding  the 
opposition  of  Cranmer  and  his  friends,  the  Six  Articles 
for  "  abolishing  diversity  of  opinions  "  in  religion,  were 
framed  into  a  law.  These  decreed  transubstantiation,  the 
needlessness  of  communion  in  both  kinds,  the  celibacy  of 
the  priesthood,  the  obligation  of  vows  of  chastity,  the 
necessity  and  value  of  private  masses  and  of  auricular 
confession.  Whoever  denied  transubstantiation  was  to 
be  burned  at  the  stake  as  a  heretic.  Whoever  should 
publicly  attack  either  of  the  other  articles  was  to  suffer 
death  as  a  felon,  without  benefit  of  clergy.  Imprison- 
ment, confiscation  of  goods,  and  death  were  threatened  to 
expressions  of  dissent  from  the  last  five  of  the  articles, 
according  to  its  form  and  degree.  The  execution  of 
Anne  Boleyn  and  the  marriage  of  the  King  to  Jane  Sey- 
mour (1536) ;  and  still  more,  the  fall  of  Cromwell  (1540), 
the  great  support  of  the  Protestant  interest,  which  fol- 
lowed upon  the  marriage  of  Henry  to  a  Protestant  prin- 
cess, Anna  of  Cleve,  and  his  immediate  divorce,  increased 
the  strength  of  the  persecuting  faction.  Those  who  de- 
nied the  King's  supremacy  and  those  who  denied  transub- 
1  stantiation  were  dragged  on  the  same  hurdle  to  the  place 
of  execution.1  Earnest  bishops,  as  Latimer  and  Shaxton, 
were  imprisoned  in  the  Tower.  Cranmer  was  protected 
by  his  own  prudence  and  the  King's  favor.2 

1  The  amount  of  persecution  under  the  Six  Articles  is  discussed  by  Maitland, 
Essays  on  the  Reformation  (London,  184G). 

2  This  is  not  the  place  to  discuss  at  length  the  personal  character  of  Henry 
VIII.  Sir  .lames  Mackintosh,  after  recounting  the  executions  of  More  and 
Anne,  says:  "In  these  two  direful  deeds  Henry  approached,  perhaps,  as  nearly 
to  the  ideal  standard  of  perfect  wickedness  as  the  infirmities  of  human  nature 
will  allow."  History  of  England,  n.  ch.  vii.  Macaulay  pronounces  him  "a 
king  whose  character  may  be  best  described  by  saying,  that  he  was  despotism 
itself  personified."  {Renew  of  Hallam.)  Burnet  gives  a  milder  judgment:  "I 
do  not  deny  that  he  is  to  be  numbered  among  the  ill  princes,  yet  1  cannot  rank 
him  with  the  worst."  Hist,  of  the  Ref,  i.  p.  i.  b.  iii.  Lord  Herbert,  after 
speaking  of  his  willfulness  and  jealousy,  says:  "These  conditions,  again  being 
armed  with  power,  produced  such  terrible  effects  as  styled  him,  abroad  and  at 


RKFORM    UNDER   EDWARD    VI.  325 

The  death  of  Henry  put  an  end  to  this  persecution. 
He  had  attempted  to  establish  an  Anglican  Church  which 
should  be  neither  Protestant  nor  Roman  Catholic,  but 
which  should  differ  from  the  Roman  Catholic  system  only 
in  the  article  of  the  Royal  Supremacy.  His  success  was 
remarkable,  and  has  been  ascribed  correctly  to  the  extraor- 
dinary force  of  his  character,  the  advantageous  position 
of  England  with  reference  to  foreign  powers,  the  enormous 
wealth  which  the  confiscation  of  the  religious  houses 
placed  at  his  disposal,  and  the  support  of  the  neutral, 
undecided  class  who  embraced  neither  opinion.1  With 
the  death  of  Henry,  the  two  parties,  as  if  released  from 
a  strong  hand,  assumed  their  natural  antagonism.  The 
government  could  maintain  its  independence  of  the  Papacy 
only  by  obtaining  the  support  of  the  Protestants.  Henry, 
with  the  assent  of  Parliament,  had  determined  the  order 
of  the  succession,  giving  precedence  to  Edward,  his  son 
by  Jane  Seymour,  over  the  two  princesses,  Mary,  the 
daughter  of  Catharine,  and  Elizabeth,  the  daughter  of 
Anne  Boleyn.  Edward  VI.  was  less  than  ten  years  old  at 
his  accession  in  1547  ;  but  as  an  example  of  intellectual 
precocity  he  has  seldom,  if  ever,  been  surpassed.  He 
was  firmly  attached  to  the  Protestant  faith.  A  Regency 
was  established,  in  which  Somerset,  the  King's  uncle,  was 
chief,  and  at  the  head  of  a  Protestant  majority.  The 
Six  Articles  were  repealed.      It  was  the  period  of  the 

home,  by  the  name  of  cruel;  which  also  hardly  can  be  avoided."  Life  and 
Reign  of  Henry  VIII.,  p.  572.  Mr.  Froude,  in  his  History  of  England  from 
the  Fall  of  Wolsey  to  the  Defeat  of  the  Spanish  Armada,  has  presented  a  brill- 
iant apology  for  Henry  VIII.  But  he  fails  to  offer  any  adequate  defense  of 
the  execution  of  More  and  of  Fisher,  an  act  of  cruelty  that  at  the  time  was  rep- 
robated everywhere;  and  still  less  for  the  destruction  of  Cromwell,  whom 
Froude,  whether  justly  or  not,  praises  up  to  the  very  foot  of  the  scaffold. 
Even  if  Anne  Boleyn  he  supposed  to  be  guilty  of  the  charges  brought  against  her. 
there  was  a  brutality  in  the  circumstances  of  her  imprisonment  and  execution, 
and  in  the  marriage  with  Jane  Seymour  the  very  next  day,  which  it  is  impossible 
to  excuse.  The  contemporaries  of  Henry  were  right  in  distinguishing  the 
earlier  from  the  latter  portion  of  his  reign.  After  the  fall  of  Wolsey,  he  be- 
came more  and  more  willful,  suspicious,  and  cruel. 
1  Macaulay,  history  of  England,  i.  46. 


326      THE   REFORMATION   IN   ENGLAND   AND   SCOTLAND. 

Smalcaldic  war  and  of  the  Interim  in  Germany,  and  the 
hands  of  Cranmer  and  Ridley  were  strengthened  by  theo- 
logians from  the  continent.  Peter  Martyr  and  Ochino 
were  made  professors  at  Oxford  in  1547,  and  Martin 
Bucer  and  Paid  Fagins  were  called  to  Cambridge  in  1549. 
The  "  Book  of  Homilies  "  appeared  in  1547  — expositions 
of  Christian  doctrine  which  were  to  be  read  by  the  clergy 
in  their  churches  every  Sunday.  Communion  had  been 
ordered  to  be  administered  in  both  kinds.  Transubstan- 
tiation  was  now  formally  abandoned  ;  the  second  principal 
step,  after  the  declaration  of  the  Royal  Supremacy,  in 
the  progress  of  the  English  Reformation.  These  changes 
gave  rise  to  a  new  "  Order  of  Communion ;  "  but  the 
latter  was  superseded,  in  1548,  by  the  "  Book  of  Common 
Prayer/'  which  was  revised  in  1552,  when  the  use  of  con- 
secrated oil,  prayers  for  the  dead,  and  auricular  confes- 
sion, were  abolished.  In  1552,  the  Articles  were  framed, 
at  first  forty-two  in  number.  Thus  the  Anglican  Church 
obtained  a  definite  constitution  and  a  ritual.  Able  and 
zealous  preachers,  among  whom  were  Matthew  Parker, 
Latimer,  and  John  Knox,  made  many  converts  to  the 
Protestant  doctrine.  The  progress  of  innovation,  how- 
ever, was  somewhat  too  rapid  for  the  general  sense  of  the 
nation.  The  spoliation  of  Church  property  for  the  profit 
of  individuals,  in  which  Somerset  was  conspicuous,  gave 
just  offense.  Anxious  to  carry  out  the  plan  of  Henry 
VIII.,  for  the  marriage  of  the  young  Queen  Mary  of 
Scotland  to  Edward,  and  desirous  of  uniting  the  two 
countries  in  one  great  Protestant  power,  Somerset  invaded 
Scotland  ;  but,  though  his  arms  were  successful,  the  an- 
tipathy of  the  Scots  to  the  domination  of  the  English  was 
too  strong  to  be  overcome ;  and  Mary  was  taken  to 
France,  there  to  be  married  to  the  Dauphin.  A  Catholic 
rebellion  in  Cornwall  and  Devonshire  was  suppressed  ; 
but  the  opposition  to  Somerset  on  various  grounds,  which 
was  led  by  the  Duke  of  Northumberland,  finally  brought 


REIGN   OF  MARY.  327 

the  Protector  to  the  scaffold ;  and  Northumberland,  who 
was  now  at  the  head  of  affairs,  concluded  a  peace  with 
France,  in  which  the  project  of  a  marriage  of  Edward 
with  Mary  was  virtually  renounced.  Under  Cranmer's 
superintendence  a  revisal  of  the  ecclesiastical  statutes, 
including  those  for  the  punishment  of  heresy,  was  under- 
taken ;  but  the  work  was  not  finished  when  the  King  died, 
at  the  age  of  sixteen  (1553). 

The  reactionary  movement  that  attended  the  accession 
of  Mary  to  the  throne,  was  heightened  by  the  abortive  at- 
tempt of  Northumberland  to  deprive  her  of  it  by  persuad- 
ing the  dying  King  to  bequeath  the  crown  to  Lady  Jane 
Grey,  a  descendant  of  Henry's  sister,  and  a  Protestant, 
whom  Northumberland  had  married  to  his  son.  The  party 
which  thus  sought  to  overthrow  the  order  of  succession  that 
had  been  fixed  by  act  of  Parliament,  found  that  it  was  fee- 
bly supported,  soon  became  divided  and  effected  nothing. 
The  insurrection  under  Wyat  was  punished  by  the  death 
of  its  leaders,  and  led  to  the  execution  of  Lady  Jane 
Grey.  Mary  was  narrow,  with  the  obstinate  will  of  her 
father,  and  superstitiously  attached  to  the  religion  of  her 
mother.  She  proceeded  as  expeditiously  as  her  more 
prudent  advisers  —  of  whom  Philip  of  Spain  was  the  chief 
—  would  permit,  to  restore  the  Catholic  system.  She 
soon  dislodged  the  married  clergy  from  their  places.  The 
Prayer  Book  was  abolished.  Disdaining  the  suggestion 
that  she  should  marry  an  Englishman,  she  gave  her  hand 
to  Philip  with  a  devotion  in  which  zeal  for  the  Catholic 
faith  was  indistinguishably  mingled  with  personal  regard. 
The  point  on  which  Parliament  showed  most  hesitation 
was  the  matter  of  the  Supremacy.  The  opposition  to 
papal  control  was  more  general  and  better  established 
than  the  antagonism  to  Roman  Catholic  doctrine.  Par- 
liament insisted  that  the  guarantee  of  the  abbey  lands  to 
their  new  possessors  should  be  incorporated  in  the  very 
act  which  reestablished  papal  authority.     Reginald  Pole, 


328       THE  INFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND   AND   SCOTLAND. 

who  was  made  legate  of  the  Pope  in  1554,  and  succeeded 
Cranmer  in  the  archbishopric,  was  the  Queen's  spiritual 
counselor.  The  fourth  of  the  great  measures  for  the 
destruction  of  Protestantism  was  the  enforcement  of  the 
laws  against  heresy.  Gardiner  lost  no  time  in  abandoning 
the  doctrine  of  the  King's  supremacy,  which  it  is  difficult 
to  believe  that  he  ever  sincerely  held.  He  and  Bonner, 
the  new  Bishop  of  London,  were  active  in  persecution. 
The  foreign  theologians  were  driven  out  of  the  kingdom, 
and  the  foreign  congregations  dispersed.  Not  less  than 
eight  hundred  Englishmen,  whose  lives  were  in  danger  at 
home,  found  an  asylum  among  their  brethren  in  Germany 
and  Switzerland.  The  noble  fortitude  with  which  Hooper, 
Latimer,  Ridley,  and  numerous  other  martyrs,  endured 
the  fire,  did  n  >.ch  to  strengthen  the  Protestant  cause  and 
to  break  dowi  the  popularity  of  Mary.  Cranmer,  from 
the  day  when  lie  saw  from  his  prison-tower  the  burning 
of  his  companions,  Ridley  and  Latimer,  seems  to  have 
lost  his  spirit/  Te  was  persuaded  to  make  an  abject  re- 
cantation ;  but,  aitwithstanding  this  act,  it  was  deter- 
mined that  he  should  die.  What  course  he  would  have 
pursued  had  he  been  permitted  to  live,  it  is  impossible  to 
tell;  but,  in  the  prospect  of  certain  death,  his  courage 
revived,  and  he  exhibited  at  the  end  a  dignity  and  con- 
stancy which  have  gone  far  in  the  estimation  of  posterity 
to  atone  for  his  previous  infirmities.  The  fault  of  Cran- 
mer was  a  time-serving  spirit ;  an  undue  subservience  to 
power  ;  a  timidity,  which  is  not  compatible  with  the 
highest  type  of  manly  honesty.  An  example  of  this  is 
seen  in  the  course  he  adopted  on  taking  the  oaths  of  ca- 
nonical obedience  to  the  Pope,  at  his  consecration  as 
Archbishop  ;  when  he  satisfied  his  conscience  by  a  pro- 
test to  the  effect  that  he  did  not  consider  himself  bound 
to  abstain  from  measures  for  the  reformation  of  the 
Church.1     His  participation  in  the  condemnation  of  John 

1  This  protestation  was  nut  communicated  to  the  Pope.     See  Hallam's  re- 
marks upon  it,  Const.  Hist.,  ch.  li.    (Harpers'  Am.  ed.,  pp.  G5,  GG  and  n) 


DEATH   OF    CRANMER.  329 

Frith,  who  was  burnt  at  Smithfield  in  1533  for  denying 
the  corporal  presence  of  Christ  in  the  Sacrament ;  and 
still  more,  his  part  in  the  execiuion  of  Jean  Boucher,  or 
Joan  of  Kent,  who  was    called  an  Anabaptist,  and  was 
burned,  in  the  reign  of  Edward,  for  an  heretical  opinion 
respecting  the  Incarnation  —  not  to  speak   of  other  ex- 
amples of  a  like  intolerance  —  are  a  blot  upon  his  memory. 
In  the  last  days  of  Edward,  Cranmer  and  his  associates 
were  engaged  in  shaping  laws  for  the  punishment  of  be- 
lievers-in  doctrines  which  he  had  himself  held  not  long- 
before,  and  for  disbelieving  in  which  he  had  assisted  in 
bringing  Frith  and  others  to  the  stake.     The  Protestant 
bishops,  says  Lingard,  the  Catholic  historian,  "  perished  in 
flames  which  they  had  prepared  for  their  adversaries.' ' * 
Yet  Cranmer,  as  Burnet  has  justly  said,-    as  instigated 
by  no  cruelty  of  temper.     He  was  under  tl  b  sway  of  the 
idea  that  there  must  be  uniformity,  and  tl;  it  the  magis- 
trate must  be  responsible  for  securing  it.      This  idea  it 
was,  in  connection  with  the  pliant  disp  L       m  which  be- 
longed to  him  by  nature,  which  move]i     mi,  in  the  last 
years  of  Henry  VIII.,  to  an  unjustifiable  concealment  or 
compromise  of  his  opinions.     It  must  be  set  down  to  his 
credit  that  he  raised  his  voice  against  the  adoption  of  the 
Six  Articles,  and  interceded,  when  intercession,  in  how- 
ever cautious  a  form,  was  hazardous,  for  the  lives  of  Anne 
Boleyn  and  Cromwell.     But  the  burning  of  a  man  of  his 
venerable  age,  who  had  filled  so  large  a  space  in  the  pub- 
lic eye,  whose  hand  had  been   pressed  by  Henry  VIII. 
when  he  was.  dying,  and  whose  own  death  took  place  un- 
der circumstances  so  affecting,  could  not  fail  to  react  to 
the  disadvantage  of  the  Queen  and  of  her  creed.    Various 
other  causes  conspired  to  render  her  unpopular.     In  1  -"),").") 
Paul  IV.,  a  violent  bigot,  and  withal  hostile  to  the  Spanish- 
Austrian  House,  became  Pope.     He  insisted  on  a  restora- 

1  This  is  somewhat  too  severe,  as  the  temporal  penalties  of  heresy  were  to  be 
fixed  by  Parliament.    See  Hallam,  Const.  Hist,  of  England  (later  editions)  ch.  ii. 


330      THE   REFORMATION   IN   ENGLAND   AND   SCOTLAND. 

tion  of  the  Church  property  in  England.  He  would  have 
the  ruined  monasteries  once  more  tenanted  by  the  monies. 
That  is  to  say,  he  was  resolved  to  annul  the  condition  on 
which  alone  Parliament  had  consented  to  restore  the  papal 
supremacy.  Moreover,  England  was  brought,  through 
Philip,  to  take  part  in  the  war  of  Spain  against  France, 
which  gave  the  victory  of  St.  Quentin  to  the  Spanish 
king,  but  made  the  English  smart  Under  the  loss  of  Calais. 
The  Queen,  whose  whole  soul  was  bound  up  with  the 
cause  of  the  Catholic  Church  and  who  looked  upon  Philip 
as  its  champion,  was  forced  to  witness  the  hostility  of  the 
Pope  to  her  husband,  and  to  see  Pole,  who  belonged  to 
that  section  of  the  Catholics  which  was  inclined  to  Prot- 
estant views  of  justification,  and  for  this  reason  was  dis- 
liked by  Paul  IV.,  deprived  of  the  legatine  office.  To 
add  to  the  perils  of  the  situation,  France  was  in  alliance 
with  Scotland.  Mary  died  on  the  17th  of  November, 
1558.  The  next  night,  Cardinal  Pole  died.  It  is  remark- 
able that  within  a  short  time  before  or  after  the  Queen's 
death,  not  less  tliwh  thirteen  of  her  bishops  died  also. 

The  nation  welcomed  Elizabeth  to  the  throne.  Her 
bias,  which  resulted  from  her  education  and  her  native 
habit  of  feeling,  was  towards  a  highly  conservative  Prot- 
estantism. The  point  to  which  she  was  irrevocably  at- 
tached was  that  of  the  sovereign's  supremacy.  Her  own 
legitimac}^  and  title  to  the  throne  depended  on  it,  and  her 
natural  love  of  power  confirmed  her  attachment  to  it. 
She  did  not  reject  the  Protestant  doctrines  respecting 
gratuitous  salvation  and  the  supreme  authority  of  the 
Scriptures,  but  she  was  disposed  to  retain  as  much  as  pos- 
sible of  the  ancient  ritual.  She  had  a  decided  repugnance 
to  the  marriage  of  the  clergy,  and  was  with  difficulty  dis- 
suaded from  absolutely  forbidding  it.  She  kept  on  the 
altar  of  her  own  private  chapel  a  crucifix  and  a  burning 
candle.  On  her  accession,  she  is  said  to  have  notified 
Paul  IV.  of  the  fact ;  but  this  fanatical  prelate  haughtily 


POLICY    OF    ELIZABETH.  661 

replied  that  she  must  submit  her  claims  to  his  decision. 
At  a  later  day,  when  Pius  IV.  offered  to  make  important 
concessions,  such  as  the  granting  of  the  cup  to  the  laity 
and  the  use  of  the  English  Liturgy,  the  proposal  was  re- 
fused. In  the  revision  of  the  Liturgy,  the  passage  in  the 
Litany  relative  to  the  ;t  tyranny  of  the  Bishop  of  Rome 
and  all  his  detestable  enormities  "  was  omitted,  as  well  as 
the  explanation  of  the  rubric  that  by  kneeling  in  the 
Sacrament  no  adoration  is  intended  for  any  corporal  pres- 
ence of  Christ.  The  Forty-two  Articles  were  reduced  to 
Thirty-nine,  in  the  revision  by  Convocation  in  1563  ;  and 
its  act  was  confirmed  by  Parliament  in  1571.  The  Act 
of  Supremacy  placed  ecclesiastical  power  in  the  hands  of 
the  Queen,  and  the  Act  of  Uniformity  made  dissent  in 
public  teaching  and  in  the  ceremonies  of  worship,  unlaw- 
ful. A  Court  of  High  Commission  was  established  and 
furnished  with  ample  powers  for  enforcing  uniformity, 
and  suppressing  and  punishing  heresy  and  dissent. 

The  two  classes  of  subjects  against  whom  these  powers 
were  to  be  exerted  were  the  Catholics,  and  the  party 
which  was  growing  up  under  the  name  of  Puritans.  That 
the  persecution  to  which  Catholics  were  subject  during 
this  reign  was  palliated,  and  that  the  severe  proceedings 
against  them  were  in  some  cases  justified,  by  the  political 
hostility  which  was  often  inseparably  mingled  with  their 
religious  faith,  is  true.  When  the  Protestantism  of  the 
Queen  was  made  the  ground  of  attack  upon  her  on  the 
part  of  foreign  powers,  and  of  conspiracies  against  her 
life ;  when  at  length  she  was  deposed  by  a  bull  of  Pius 
V.,  and  her  subjects  released  from  their  allegiance,  it  was 
natural  that  severity  should  be  used  towards  that  portion 
of  her  subjects  who  were  looked  upon  as  the  natural  allies 
of  her  enemies.  Yet  it  is  likewise  true  that  repressive 
measures  were  adopted  against  the  Catholics  in  many 
cases  where  justice  as  well  as  sound  policy  would  have 
dictated  a  different  course. 


332      THE  REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND   AND   SCOTLAND. 

A  consideration  of  the  general  character  of  the  Anglican 
Church,  as  that  was  determined  after  the  accession  of 
Elizabeth,  will  qualify  us  to  understand  the  Puritan  con- 
troversy. The  feature  that  distinguished  the  English 
Church  from  the  reformed  churches  on  the  Continent, 
was  the  retention  in  its  polity  and  worship  of  so  much 
that  had  belonged  to  the  Catholic  system.  The  first 
step  in  the  English  Reformation  was  the  assertion  of  the 
Royal  Supremacy.  At  the  beginning  this  meant  a  declar- 
ation of  the  nation's  independence  of  Rome.  But  the 
positive  character  of  this  supremacy  was  not  clearly  de- 
fined. In  the  time  of  Henry  VIII.,  and  in  the  beginning 
of  Edward's  reign,  Cranmer  and  the  bishops,  like  civil 
officers,  held  their  commissions  at  the  King's  pleasure. 
On  the  death  of  Henry,  Cranmer  considered  the  arch- 
bishopric of  Canterbury  vacant  until  he  should  be  sup- 
plied with  a  new  appointment.  As  the  head  of  the 
Church,  the  King  could  make  and  deprive  bishops,  as  he 
could  appoint  and  degrade  all  other  officers  in  the  king- 
dom. The  episcopal  polity  was  retained,  partly  because 
the  bishops  generally  fell  in  with  the  proceedings  of  Henry 
VIII.  and  Edward  for  the  reform  of  the  Church,  and  on 
account  of  the  compact  organization  of  the  monarchy,  in 
consequence  of  which  the  nation  acted  as  one  body.  But 
in  the  first  age  of  the  Reformation,  and  until  the  rise  of 
Puritanism  as  a  distinct  party,  there  was  little  con- 
troversy among  Protestants  in  relation  to  episcopacy. 
Not  only  was  Melancthon  willing  to  allow  bishops  with  a 
jure  humano  authority,  but  Luther  and  Calvin  were  also 
of  the  same  mind.  The  episcopal  constitution  of  the 
English  Church  for  a  long  period  put  no  barrier  in  the 
way  of  the  most  free  and  fraternal  relations  between  that 
body  and  the  Protestant  churches  on  the  continent.  As 
we  have  seen,  Cranmer  placed  foreign  divines  in  very  re- 
sponsible places  in  the  English  Church.  Ministers  who 
had  received  Presbyterian   ordination  were  admitted  to 


THE   EPISCOPAL    QUESTION.  333 

take  charge  of  English  parishes  without  a  question  as  to 
the  validity  of  their  orders.  We  find  Cranmer,  Melanc- 
thon,  and  Calvin  more  than  once  in  correspondence  with 
one  another,  in  regard  to  the  calling  of  a  general  Protes- 
tant Council,  to  counteract  the  influence  of  Trent.  The 
great  English  divines  were  in  constant  correspondence 
with  the  Helvetic  reformers,  to  whom  they  looked  for 
counsel  and  sympathy,  and  whom  they  addressed  in  a 
deferential  and  affectionate  style.  The  pastors  of  Zurich, 
Bullinger  the  successor,  and  Gualter  the  son-in-law  of 
Zwingle,  wTere  their  intimate  and  trusted  advisers.  It 
was  a  common  opinion  that  there  is  a  parity  between 
bishops  and  presbyters  ;  that  the  difference  is  one  of  office 
and  not  of  order.  This  had  been  a  prevailing  view 
among  the  schoolmen  in  the  Middle  Ages.  Though  it 
belonged  to  bishops  to  ordain  and  (in  the  Latin  Church) 
to  confirm ;  yet  the  priest,  not  less  than  the  bishop,  per- 
formed the  miracle  of  the  Eucharist,  the  highest  clerical 
act.  Cranmer  distinctly  asserted  the  parity  of  the  two 
classes  of  clergy.  The  same  thing  is  found  in  the  "  Bish- 
ops' Book,"  or  Institution  of  a  Christian  Man,  which  was 
put  forth  by  authority  in  1537.1  But  Cranmer  has  left 
on  record  an  explicit  assertion  of  his  opinion.2     Jewel, 

1  Burnet  i.  468  (Addenda).  Burnet  says  that  it  was  "  the  common  style  of 
that  age  "  — derived  from  the  schoolmen  —  "  to  reckon  bishops  and  priests  as 
the  same  office."  After  the  Tridentine  Council,  the  doctrine  of  the  institutio 
divina  of  bishops  prevailed  in  the  Catholic  Church.  See  Gieseler,  i.  i.  2. 
§  30,  n.  i. 

*2  See  Burnet,  I.  (ii.)  Collection  of  Records,  xxi.  The  Resolutions  of  several 
Bishops  and  Divines,  of  some  Questions  Concerning  the  Sacraments,  etc.  "Ques- 
tion 10  Whether  bishops  or  priests  were  first?  and  if  the  priests  first, 
then  the  priests  made  the  bishop."  Cranmer  answers:  "The  bishops  and  priests 
were  at  one  time,  and  were  no  two  things,  but  both  one  office  in  the  beginning 
of  Christ's  religion."  "Question  12.  Whether  in  the  New  Testament  lie  re- 
quired any  consecration  of  bishop  or  priests,  or  only  appointing  to  the  office  be 
sufficient?  "  Cranmer  answers:  "In  the  New  Testament,  he  that  is  appointed 
to  be  a  bishop  or  priest,  needeth  no  consecration  by  the  Scripture,  for  election 
or  appointing  thereto  is  sufficient."  In  answer  to  question  14,  Cranmer  -ays 
that  "it  is  not  forbidden  by  God's  law,"  if  all  the  bishops  ami  priests  in  a 
region  were  dead,   that   "the   King  of  that  region  should  make  bishops  and 


334      THE  REFORMATION   IN  ENGLAND   AND   SCOTLAND. 

one  of  the  great  lights  of  the  English  Church  in  the  early 
part  of  the  reign  of  Elizabeth,  appears  to  hold  this  view: 
Bancroft,  the  successor  of  Whitgift  as  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury,  is  thought  to  have  been  the  first  to  maintain 
the  necessity  of  bishops,  or  the  jure  divino  doctrine.1 
There  is  no  trace  of  such  a  doctrine  in  the  "  Apology 
for  the  Church  of  England,"  and  in  the  "  Defense  of  the 
Apology,"  by  Jewel,  which  have  been  regarded  by  An- 
glicans with  just  pride  as  an  able  refutation  of  Roman 
Catholic  accusations  against  their  system.  At  a  much 
later  time,  Lord  Bacon,  in  his  "  Advertisement  concern- 
ing Controversies  of  the  Church  of  England,"  speaks  of 
the  stiff  defenders  of  all  the  orders  of  the  Church,  as 
beginning  to  condemn  their  opponents  as  "  a  sect." 
"  Yea,  and  some  indiscreet  persons  have  been  bold  in 
open  preaching  to  use  dishonorable  and  derogatory  speech 
and  censure  of  the  churches  abroad ;  and  that  so  far,  as 
some  of  our  men,  as  I  have  heard,  ordained  in  foreign 
parts,  have  been  pronounced  to  be  no  lawful  ministers. 
Thus  we  see  the  beginnings  were  modest,  but  the  ex- 
tremes were  violent." 2  Near  the  end  of  Elizabeth's 
reign,  Hooker,  in  his  celebrated  work  in  defense  of  the 
Church  of  England,  fully  concedes  the  validity  of  Pres- 
byterian ordination  ;  with  tacit  reference,  as  Keble,  his 
modern    editor,  concedes,  to    the    continental    Churches. 


priests  to  supply  the  same  "  See  also  a  Declaration  signed  by  Cranmer  and 
other  bishops,  with  Cromwell.  Burnet,  Ibid.  Addenda  V.  After  describing 
in  full  the  functions  of  the  clergy,  it  is  said:  "  This  office,  this  power  and  au- 
thority, was  committed  and  given  by  Christ  and  his  Apostles  unto  certain 
persons  only,  that  is  to  say,  unto  priests  or  bishops,  whom  they  did  elect,  call, 
and  admit  thereunto  by  their  prayers  and  imposition  of  hands."  "The  truth  is, 
that  in  the  New  Testament  there  is  no  mention  made  of  any  degrees  or  distinc- 
tions in  orders,  but  only  of  deacons  or  ministers,  and  of  priests  or  bishops." 
Thirteen  bishops,  with  a  great  number  of  other  ecclesiastics,  subscribed  this 
proposition. 

1  Ilallam  thinks  that  not  even  Bancroft  taught  this  view,  where  it  is  sup- 
posed by  many  to  be  found,  in  his  sermon  at  St.  Paul's  Cross  (1588).  Const. 
Hist.,  p.  22(j  (Harpers'  Am.  ed.). 

2  Works  (Montagu's  ed.)  vii.  48.     • 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF  PREDESTINATION.        335 

Laud  was  reproved  in  1604  for  maintaining  in  his  exer- 
cise for  Bachelor  of  Divinity  at  Oxford  that  there  could 
be  no  true  church  without  bishops  ;  "  which  was  thought 
to  cast  a  bone  of  contention  between  the  Church  of 
England  and  the  Reformed  on  the  Continent."  Even  as 
late  as  1618,  in  the  reign  of  James  I.,  an  English  bishop 
and  several  Anglican  clergymen  sat  in  the  Synod  of  Dort, 
with  a  presbyter  for  its  moderator. 

The  Anglican  Church  agreed  with  the  Protestant 
churches  on  the  continent,  on  the  subject  of  predestina- 
tion. On  this  subject,  for  a  long  period,  the  Protestants 
generally  were  united  in  opinion.  They  adopted  the 
Augustinian  tenet.  The  impotency  of  the  will  is  af- 
firmed by  Luther  as  strongly  as  by  Calvin.  Melancthon's 
gradual  modification  of  the  doctrine,  which  allowed  to 
the  will  a  cooperative  agency  in  conversion,  only  affected 
a  portion  of  the  Lutheran  Church.  The  leaders  of  the 
English  Reformation,  from  the  time  when  the  death  of 
Henry  VIII.  placed  them  firmly  upon  Protestant  ground, 
profess  the  doctrine  of  absolute,  as  distinguished  from 
conditional,  predestination,  which  is  the  essential  feature 
of  both  the  Augustinian  and  Calvinistic  systems.  It  is 
true  that  Cranmer,  Ridley,  and  Latimer  have  not  left  so 
definite  expressions  on  this  subject  in  their  writings  as 
as  is  the  case  with  the  Elizabethan  bishops.  But  the  seven- 
teenth of  the  Articles  cannot  fairly  be  interpreted  in  any 
other  sense  than  that  of  unconditional  election ;  and  the 
cautions  which  are  appended,  instead  of  being  opposed  to 
this  interpretation,  demonstrate  the  correctness  of  it  ;  for 
who  was  ever  "  thrust  into  desperation,  or  into  wretchless- 
ness  of  most  unclean  living,"  by  the  opposite  doctrine  ? 1 

1  It  is  important  to  observe,  that  in  the  inquiry  whether  the  Articles  are 
"  Calvinistic  "  or  not,  this  term  is  used  in  contradistinction  to  Arminian.  Among 
the  writers  in  defense  of  their  non-Calvinistic  character  is  Archbishop  Lawrence, 
Bampton 'Lectures  (1804).  On  the  same  side,  with  some  hesitation,  is  Bishop 
Harold  Browne,  who  reviews  the  controversy.  An  Exposit.  of  the  xxxtx.  Ar- 
ticles (1858.)     Bishop  Burnet,  himself  a  Latitudinarian,  in  his  dispassionate  dis- 


336       THE  REFORMATION  IN   ENGLAND  AND   SCOTLAND. 

Bradford  when  in  prison  in  London  disputed  on  this  subject 
with  certain  "  free-willers,"  of  whom  he  wrote  to  his  fel- 
low-martyrs then  at  Oxford.  Ridley's  letter  in  reply  cer- 
tainly implies  sympathy  with  his  friend  in  this  opinion.1 
Strype  says  that  Ridley  and  Bradford  wrote  on  predesti- 
nation, and  that  Bradford's  treatise  was  approved  by 
Cranmer,  Ridley,  and  Latimer.  The  relations  of  Cran- 
mer  to  Bucer  and  Peter  Martyr  throw  light  on  his  opinion 
relative  to  this  question.  Bucer,  before  he  was  called  to 
England,  had  dedicated  his  exposition  of  the  Romans,  in 
which  he  sets  forth  the  doctrine  of  absolute  predestination, 
to  Cranmer.  Peter  Martyr  elaborately  defended  this 
tenet  at  Oxford,  and  replied  to  the  anti-Calvinistic  trea- 
tises of  Smith,  his  predecessor,  and  of  Pighius,  the  oppo- 
nent of  Calvin.  It  was  during  the  residence  of  Martyr 
at  Oxford,  that  the  Articles  were  framed.2  On  the  ac- 
cession of  Mary,  Cranmer  offered  to  defend,  in  conjunc- 
tion with  his  friend  Martyr,  in  a  public  disputation,  the 
doctrines  which  had  been  established  in  the  previous  reign. 
It  is  impossible  to  believe  that  they  materially  differed 
on  this  prominent  point  of  theological  belief.3  There  is 
more  ground  for  the  assertion  that  the  formularies  of  the 
Church  of  England  are  Augustinian,  in  distinction  from 

cussion  of  the  subject,  says:  "It  is  not  be  denied  that  the  Article  [xvii.]  seems 
to  be  framed  according  to  St.  Austin's  doctrine."  "It  is  very  probable  that 
those  who  penned  it  meant  that  the  decree  is  absolute."  Exjwsition  of  the 
xxxix.  Articles  (Art.  xvii.). 

1  The  moderation  of  Ridley  is  indicated  in  the  remark  that  he  dares  not  write 
otherwise  on  this  subject  "  than  the  very  text  doth,  as  it  were,  lead  me  by  the 
hand."     Works  ^ParkerSoc),  p-  368. 

2  "In  das,  von  der  Londoner  Synode  im  Jahr  1552,  aufgefasste  Glaubens- 
bekenntniss  dor  Englischen  Kirche,  wurden  die  Lehre  von  der  Erbsunde,  der 
Praedestination,  und  der  Rechtfertigung,  aufgenommen,  so  wie  Martyr,  and 
mit  ihm  alle  gleichzeitigen  protestantischcn  Theologen  in  England  sic  auf- 
ges'tellt  batten."  Dr.  C.  Schmidt,  Peter  Martyr  Vermigli,  Leben  u.  ausgewahlt, 
Schriften,  p.  117. 

3  Upon  the  Calvinism  of  Cranmer,  Ridley,  and  Latimer,  see  Hunt,  Religious 
Thought  in  England,  i.  33.  Hunt  refers  to  Cranmer's  notes  on  the  Great  Bible, 
as  settling  the  point  that  he  was  a  "  moderate  Calvinist." 


CALVINISM   IN   ENGLAND.  337 

Calvinistic.1  Yet  it  is  admitted  by  candid  scholars  that 
at  the  beginning  of  Elizabeth's  reign  "  Calvinistic  teach- 
ing generally  prevailed."  2  But  through  the  whole  reign 
of  Edward,  also,  Calvin's  personal  influence  was  great  in 
England.  His  controversy  with  Pighius,  and  the  expul- 
sion of  Bolsec  from  Geneva  in  1551,  excited  general  at- 
tention. It  was  about  this  time  that  election  and  kindred 
topics  began  to  be  agitated  in  England.  Under  date  of 
September  10,  1552,  Bartholomew  Traheron  wrote  to 
Bullinger  :  "  I  am  exceedingly  desirous  to  know  what  you 

1  The  particulars  in  which  Calvin  varied  from  Augustine  are  these.  Augus- 
tine made  the  fall  of  Adam,  the  first  sin,  the  object  of  a  permissive  decree. 
Calvin  was  not  satisfied  with  a  bare,  passive  permission  on  the  part  of  God,  and 
makes  statements  which  tend  to  the  supralapsarian  idea.  (See  supra,  p.  202.)  This 
view  was  developed  by  Beza  and  a  section  of  the  Calvinists.  But  inf  ralapsarian 
or  Augustinian  Calvinism  has  had  the  suffrages  of  a  majority.  It  is  found  in  the 
Westminster  Confession,  and  even  the  creed  of  the  Synod  of  Dort  does  not  go 
beyond  it.  Augustine  held  to  the  pretention,  instead  of  the  reprobation  of 
the  wicked ;  or  rather  to  their  reprobation,  not  to  sin,  but  to  the  punishment  of  sin. 
(For  the  passages  see  Miinscher,  Dogmengeschichte,  i.  402.)  High  Calvinists 
held  to  a  positive  decree  of  reprobation,  analogous  to  that  of  election ;  yet 
denied  that  God  is  the  author  of  sin.  Calvin  differed  from  Augustine  in  hold- 
ing to  the  perseverance  of  all  believers;  that  is,  that  none  but  the  elect  ever 
exercise  saving  faith.  Augustine  attributed  to  the  sacraments  a  greater  effect 
on  the  non-elect.  Thus  he  held  that  all  baptized  infants  are  saved.  This  sac- 
ramental tenet  is  often  declared  to  be  a  feature  of  the  Anglican  system,  as  op- 
posed to  that  of  Calvin.  (See,  e.  g.,  Blunt,  Diet,  of  Doctr.  and  Hist.  Theol,  p. 
103.)  But  Calvin  teaches,  not  indeed  that  a  saving  measure  of  grace  is  given 
to  all  baptized  children;  but  still  that  all  such  are  "  engrafted  into  the  body  of 
the  church,"  "accepted  as  His  [God's]  children  by  the  solemn  symbol  of  adop- 
tion," and  that  "God  has  his  different  degrees  of  regenerating  those  whom  He 
has  adopted."  Inst.,  iv.  xvi.  9,  31.  He  teaches  that -grace  is  imparted,  to 
some  extent,  to  non-elect  adults,  who  are  thus  rendered  more  inexcusable. 
The  ex  opere  qperato  theory  of  the  sacraments,  the  theory  of  their  intrinsic 
efficiency,  independently  of  the  feeling  of  the  recipient,  is  denied  —  in  the 
xlii.  Article,  expressly — and  "the  wholesome  effect  or  operation  "  of  them 
is  confined  "to  such  only  as  worthily  receive  the  same."  Article  xvn.  affirms 
that  "we  must  receive  God's  promises  in  such  wise  as  they  be  generally  set 
forth  to  us  in  Holy  Scripture."  This  is  sometimes  said  to  be  anti-Calvinistic. 
But  Calvin  says  that  "  the  voice  of  the  Gospel  addresses  all  men  generally,"  and 
that  "the  promises  are  offered  equall}' to  the  faithful  and  the  impious."  Inst., 
m.  xxii.  10,  and  n.  v.  10.  The  Article  implies  the  Calvinistic  or  Augustinian 
distinction  between  the  "secret  will,"  or  purpose,  and  "that  will  of  God" 
which  is  expressly  declared. 

2  Blunt,  Diet,  of  Doctr.  and  Historical  Theol,  art.  "Calvinism,"  p.  105. 

22 


338   THE  REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND  AND  SCOTLAND. 

and  the  other  very  learned  men,  who  live  at  Zurich,  think 
respecting  the  predestination  and  Providence  of  God." 
u  The  greater  number  among  us,  of  whom  I  own  myself 
to  be  one,  embrace  the  opinion  of  John  Calvin  as  being 
perspicuous,  and  most  agreeable  to  Holy  Scripture.  And 
we  truly  thank  God  that  that  excellent  treatise  of  the 
very  learned  and  excellent  John  Calvin  against  Pighius 
and  one  Georgius  Siculus  should  have  come  forth  at  the 
very  time  when  the  question  began  to  be  agitated  among 
us.  For  we  confess  that  he  has  thrown  much  light  upon 
the  subject,  or  rather  so  handled  it  as  that  we  have  never 
before  seen  anything  more  learned  or  more  plain."  1  At 
this  time,  as  Bullinger  indicates  by  his  reply,  even  he  was 
not  satisfied  with  the  supralapsarian  tenet,  the  modifica- 
tion of  Augustinism,  which  Calvin  had  broached  ;  the 
theory  that  the  first  sin  is  the  object  of  an  efficient  de- 
cree.2 After  the  accession  of  Elizabeth,  the  Institutes  of 
Calvin  "  were  generally  in  the  hands  of  the  clergy,  and 
might  be  considered  their  text-book  of  theology."  3 

But  while  it  is  true  that  the  Anglican  divines  of  the 
sixteenth  century  may  be  said  to  be  Calvinistic  in  their 
opinion  respecting  the  divine  decrees,  it  is  also  true  that 
they  were,  as  a  rule,  not  rigid  in  the  profession  and  main- 
tenance of  this  dogma.  On  this  topic,  they  shared  in  the 
prevailing  belief  of  the  Protestants  of  that  age.  But  they 
combined  in  their  theology  other  elements  which  stood 

1  Original  Letters,  p.  325. 

2  After  Peter  Martyr  took  up  his  residence  at  Zurich  (in  155G),  Bullinger  went 
farther  than  hefore  in  his  assertion  of  predestination.  See  Herzog,  Real-Encycl., 
art.  "  Bullinger." 

a  Blunt,  ut  supra.  We  find  explicit  proofs  that  Jewel,  Nowell,  Sandys,  Cox, 
professed  to  concur  with  the  Reformers  of  Zurich  and  Geneva  in  every  point  of 
doctrine.  Ilallam,  Const.  Hist.,  ch.  vii.  Archbishop  Grindal  (then  Bishop  of  Lon- 
don), writing  June  6,  1552,  says,  in  reference  to  certain  Lutherans  at  Bremen:  "  It 
is  astonishing  that  they  are  raising  such  commotions  about  predestination.  They 
should  at  least  consult  their  own  Luther  on  the  '  bondage  of  the  will.'  For  what 
else  do  Bucer,  Calvin,  and  Martyr  teach,  that  Luther  has  not  maintained  in 
that  treatise?"  (Zurich  Letters,  2ded.,  p.  142.)  It  was  considered  that  these 
leading  Reformers  were  substantially  united  on  this  subject- 


CALVINISM  IN  THE  CHUECH  OF  ENGLAND.      339 

out  in  more  distinct  relief.  And  the  tendency  to  go  back 
to  antiquity,  to  seek  for  moderate,  and  to  avoid  obnoxious 
conceptions  of  doctrine  ;  in  a  word,  the  peculiar  spirit 
fostered  by  the  whole  Anglican  system,  tended  more  and 
more  to  blunt  the  sharpness  of  doctrinal  statements  on 
this  subject.  The  contrast  is  marked,  in  this  particular, 
between  Whitgift,  a  strenuous  Calvinist,  and  Hooker, 
who  approved,  in  general,  of  the  Calvinistic  system,  but 
represents  in  his  whole  tone  the  school  of  distinctively 
Anglican  theologians  which  was  acquiring  an  increasing 
strength.1  As  late  as  1595,  the  Lambeth  Articles,  con- 
taining the  strongest  assertion  of  unconditional  election, 
and  of  reprobation  also,  were  subscribed  by  Whitgift, 
then  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  by  the  bishops  of  London 
and  Bangor,  and  with  slight  verbal  amendments,  by  the 
Archbishop  of  York,  and  transmitted  by  Whitgift  to  the 
University  of  Cambridge  ;  these  Articles  being,  he  said, 
an  explication  of  the  doctrine  of  the  Church  of  England.2 
At  this  time  dissent  from  Calvinism  had  be^un  distinctly 
to  manifest  itself  ;  and  gradually  the  Arminian  doctrine 
spread  in  England  until,  during  the  next  reign,  it  became 
prevalent  in  the  established  Church.3 

The  -great  and  almost  the  only  topic  of  doctrinal  con- 

1  Hooker,  in  the  copious  Preface  to  his  Treatise,  lauds  Calvin,  whom  he  pro- 
nounces "incomparably  the  wisest  man  that  ever  the  French  Church  did  enjoy, 
since  the  hour  it  enjoyed  him."  He  praises  Calvin's  "  Institutes  "  and  Commen- 
taries, and  has  no  contest  with  his  doctrinal  system.  At  the  same  time,  Hooker's 
work  is  tinned  throughout  with  the  characteristics  of  the  Anglican  school. 
Principal  Tulloch  lias  interesting  remarks  on  what  he  terms  "  the  comprehensive- 
ness and  genial  width  of  view"  of  the  Anglican  Calvinists,  such  as  Jewel  and 
Hooker.     English  Puritanism  and  its  Leadens,  pp.  5,  7,  41. 

2  The  Lambeth  Articles  may  be  found  in  Neal,  History  of  the  Puritans,  i. 
209,  and  in  Cardwell,  History  of  the  Articles  ( App.  v.)  p.  .'543.  Cardwell  prints  the 
Articles,  both  as  written  by  Whitaker  and  as  subscribed.  If  Art.  V.  asserts  per- 
severance in  the  exercising  of  true  and  justifying  faith  of  the  elect  only,  Art. 
VI.  affirms  that  all  who  are  possessed  of  this  faith  have  a  full  assurance  and 
certainty  of  their  everlasting  salvation.  The  Articles  of  the  Episcopal  Church 
adopted  in  Ireland  in  1015,  were  decidedly  Calvinistic.  Archbishop  Usher,  who 
became  Primate  of  the  Irish  Church  in  1624,  was  a  most  learned  advocate  of  this 
type  of  theology. 


340      THE   REFORMATION   IN   ENGLAND   AND   SCOTLAND. 

troversy  among  Protestants  in  the  early  stages  of  the 
Reformation,  was  the  Lord's  Supper.  On  this  subject, 
the  Church  of  England  allied  itself  to  the  Reformed  or 
Calvinistic  branch  of  the  Protestant  family.  It  must  be 
remembered  that  Bucer  and  Calvin  had  struck  out  a 
middle  path  between  the  Lutheran  idea  of  the  local  pres- 
ence of  the  body  of  Christ  in  the  Eucharist,  and  the  idea 
of  a  mere  commemoration,  which  was  the  original  view 
of  Zwingle.  This  middle  doctrine  denied  the  Lutheran 
hypothesis  of  the  ubiquity  of  Christ's  body,  asserted  that 
it  is  now  confined  to  heaven,  but  at  the  same  time  affirmed 
a  real,  though  mysterious  and  purely  spiritual  reception 
of  Christ  by  believers  alone,  by  virtue  of  which  a  vital- 
izing power  is  communicated  to  the  recipient,  even  from 
His  body.  With  this  hypothesis  of  a  real,  but  spir- 
itual presence  and  reception  of  Christ,  the  Zwinglians 
were  satisfied.  Even  Zwingle  and  (Ecolampadius  were 
■not  disposed  to  contend  against  it ;  and  it  formed  the 
basis  of  union  between  Calvin  and  his  followers,  and  the 
Zwinglian  Churches.  At  the  outset,  after  giving  up 
transubstantiation,  Cranmer  adopted  the  Lutheran  doc- 
trine of  consubstantiation ;  but  Ridley  embraced  the 
Swiss  doctrine,  in  its  later  form,  and  Cranmer  avowed 
himself  of  the  same  mind.  On  the  31st  of  December, 
1548,  Bartholomew  Traheron  writes  to  Bullinger  of  the 
Disputation  which  had  just  been  held  in  London,  on  the 
Eucharist,  "  in  the  presence  of  almost  all  the  nobility  of 
England."  He  says :  "  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury, 
contrary  to  general  expectation,  most  openly,  firmly,  and 
learnedly  maintained  your  opinion  upon  this  subject. 
His  arguments  were  as  follows  :  The  body  of  Christ  was 
taken  up  from  us  into  heaven.  Christ  has  left  the  world. 
4  Ye  have  the  poor  always  with  you,  but  me  ye  have  not 
always,'  etc.  Next  followed  the  Bishop  of  Rochester" 
[Ridley].  "  The  truth  never  obtained  a  more  brilliant 
victory  among  us  "  —  that  is,  in  conflict  with  the  Papists. 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF  THE  LORD'S  SUPPER.       341 

"  I  perceive  that  it  is  all  over  with  Lutheranism,  now 
that  those  who  were  considered  its  principal  and  almost 
only  supporters,  have  altogether  come  over  to  our  side."  } 
The  exiles  who  fled  from  England  on  the  death  of  Ed- 
ward, were  inhospitably  received  in  Germany  on  account 
of  their  Calvinism.  In  1562,  after  the  readoption  of  the 
Articles  under  Elizabeth,  Jewel  wrote  to  Peter  Martyr : 
"  As  for  matters  of  doctrine,  we  have  pared  everything 
away  to  the  quick,  and  do  not  differ  from  your  doctrine 
by  a  nail's  breadth  ;  for  as  to  the  ubiquitarian  theory  "  — 
the  Lutheran  view  —  "  there  is  no  danger  in  this  country. 
Opinions  of  that  kind  can  only  gain  admittance  where 
the  stones  have  sense."  2  But  there  is  no  need  of  bring- 
ing forward  further  evidence  on  this  point,  since  the  Arti- 
cles explicitly  assert  the  Calvinistic  view.  In  speaking 
of  the  English  Reformers  as  Calvinistic,  it  is  not  implied 
that  they  derived  their  opinions  from  Calvin  exclusively, 
or  received  them  on  his  authority.     They  were  able  and 

1  Cranmer  himself  says,  referring  to  his  translation,  in  the  first  year  of  Eel- 
ward,  of  the  Lutheran  Catechism  of  Justus  Jonas,  in  which  it  is  affirmed  that 
the  body  and  blood  of  the  Saviour  are  received  by  the  mouth:  "Not  long  be- 
fore I  wrote  the  said  Catechism,  I  was  in  that  error  of  the  real  presence,  as  I 
was  many  years  past,  in  divers  other  errors,  as  transubstantiation  " — here 
he  enumerates  other  papal  doctrines  which  he  had  once  held.  Cranmer,  Treat- 
ises on  the  Lord's  Supper-  (Parker  Soc),  P-  374.  In  the  discussions  respects 
ing  the  Sacrament,  prior  to  the  preparation  of  the  xlii  Articles  of  1553, 
Bucer  thought  Martyr  too  Zwinglian.  See  C  Schmidt,  Peter  Martyr 
Vermigli:  Leben  u.  ausgewahUe  Schriften,  p.  103  seq.;  Baum,  Capita  u. 
Bucer,  Leben,  etc.,  p.  555;  Hardwick,  History  of  (he  Articles  of  Religion, 
p.  96.  But  this  led  to  no  serious  disagreement.  Bucer  and  Martyr  were  both 
substantially  Calvinistic.  The  idea  that  Cranmer  was  disinclined  to  the  "  Swi^s 
doctrine  "  is  contradicted  by  his  own  words:  "  Bucer  dissenteth  in  nothing  from 
CEcolampadius  and  Zwinglius,"  The  Level's  Supper  (Parker  Soc.)  p.  225.  The 
changes  in  the  Order  of  Communion,  in  the  Revision  of  1552,  are  Zwinglian  io 
their  tone.  See  Cardwell,  History  of  Conferences  and.  other  Proceedings  con- 
nected with  the  Revision  of  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer,  pp.  4,  5.  King  Edward's 
Catechism  for  all  schoolmasters  to  teach,  is  definitely  anti-Lutheran.  The  com- 
memorative side  of  the  Eucharist  is  emphasized.  Faith  is  described  as  the 
mouth  of  the  spirit  for  receiving  Christ.  See  Liturgies  of  King  Edward 
(Parker  Soc.)  pp.  516,  517.  Bishop  Coverdale,  the  friend  of  Cranmer,  trans- 
lated a  writing  of  Calvin  on  the  Sacrament. 

*  February  7,  1562.     Zurich  Letters  (2d  series),  p.  124. 


342      THE   REFORMATION   IN   ENGLAND   AND    SCOTLAND. 

learned  men,  and  explored  the  Scriptures  and  the  patristic 
writers  for  themselves.  Yet  no  name  was  held  in  higher 
honor  among  them  than  that  of  the  Genevan  Reformer. 

A  controversy  of  greater  moment  for  the  subsequent 
ecclesiastical  as  well  as  political  history  of  England,  was 
that  between  the  Anglicans  and  Puritans.  From  the 
beginning,  there  were  some  in  England  avIio  wished  to 
introduce  more  radical  changes  and  to  conform  the  English 
Reformation  to  the  type  which  it  had  reached  among  the 
Reformed  or  Calvinistic  Churches  on  the  Continent. 
This  disposition  gained  force  through  the  residence  of  the 
foreign  divines  in  England  in  the  time  of  Edward,  and 
still  more  by  the  return  of  the  exiles  after  the  accession 
of  Elizabeth.  The  great  obstacles  in  the  way  of  obtain- 
ing the  changes  which  they  desired,  were  the  strength 
of  the  Catholic  party  and  the  conservatism  of  Queen 
Elizabeth.  The  controversy  first  had  respect  to  the  use 
of  the  vestments,  especially  the  cap  and  surplice,  and 
extended  to  other  peculiarities  of  the  ritual.  The  ground 
of  the  Puritan  objection  was  that  these  things  were  iden- 
tified in  the  popular  mind  with  the  papal  notion  of  a 
particular  priesthood.  They  were  badges  of  Popery,  and 
for  this  reason  should  be  discarded.  When  it  was  replied, 
that  the  surplice,  the  cross  in  baptism,  kneeling  at  the 
Sacrament,  are  things  indifferent  in  their  nature,  the  re- 
joinder was  made  that  since  they  are  misleading  in  their 
influence,  they  are  not  indifferent,  in  the  moral  sense  ; 
but  that  if  they  are  indifferent,  the  magistrate  has  no 
right  to  impose  them  upon  Christian  people  :  it  is  an  in- 
fringement of  Christian  liberty.  In  this  last  affirmation 
was  involved  an  idea  with  regard  to  the  Supremacy  which 
must  lead  to  a  difference  of  a  more  radical  character. 
Hooper,  who  is  often  styled  the  father  of  the  Puritans, 
had  spent  some  time  at  Zurich  while  the  Adiaphoristic 
controversy,  which  related  to  the  same  subject  of  cere- 
monies, was  raging  in  Germany.      Being  chosen  under 


RISE   OF   PURITANISM.  343 

Edward,  in  1550,  to  the  bishopric  of  Gloucester,  he  re- 
fused to  wear  the  vestments  at  his  consecration.  Finally, 
after  he  had  been  imprisoned,  the  difficulty  was  settled 
by  a  compromise.  They  were,  in  fact,  very  much  laid 
aside  during  this  reign.  At  the  beginning  of  Elizabeth's 
reign  there  was  a  general  feeling  among  her  newly  ap- 
pointed bishops,  most  of  whom  had  been  abroad  during 
the  persecutions  under  Mary,  in  favor  of  the  disuse  of 
the  vestments  and  of  the  offensive  ceremonies.  This  was 
the  wish  of  Jewel,  of  Nowell,  of  Sandys,  afterwards 
Archbishop  of  York,  of  Grindal,  who  succeeded  Parker 
in  the  archbishopric  of  Canterbury.  Only  Cox,  the 
Bishop  of  Ely,  who,  in  the  church  of  the  exiles  at 
Frankfort,  had  led  the  party  which  clung  to  the  English 
Liturgy,  and  Parker,  who  had  remained  in  England 
during  the  late  reign,  were  on  the  other  side  ;  although 
Parker  appears,  at  the  outset,  to  have  looked  with  doubt 
or  disfavor  upon  the  vestments.1  Burleigh,  Walsingham, 
Leicester,  were  in  favor  of  giving  them  up,  or  of  not 
making  their  use  compulsory.  English  prelates,  in  their 
correspondence,  speak  of  them  in  the  same  terms  of  de- 
rision and  contempt  as  the  Puritan  leaders  afterwards 
employed.  For  example,  Jewel  says  in  one  of  his  letters 
to  Peter  Martyr  :  "  Now  that  the  full  light  of  the  Gospel 
has  shone  forth,  the  very  vestiges  of  error  must,  as  far 
as  possible,  be  removed,  together  with  the  rubbish,  and, 
as  the  saying  is,  with  the  very  dust.  And  I  wish  we 
could  effect  this  in  respect  to  that  linen  surplice."  The 
statements  of  Macaulay  are  sustained  by  the  correspond- 
ence of  the  English  with  the  Swiss  Reformers,  and  by 
other  evidence  :  "  The  English  Reformers  were  eager  to 
go  as  far  as  their  brethren  on  the  continent.  The} 
unanimously  condemned  as  anti-Christian  numerous  dog- 
mas and  practices  to  which  Henry  had  stubbornly  adhered 
and  which  Elizabeth  reluctantly  abandoned.     Many  felt 

1  Short,  HistQry  of  the  Church  of  England,  p.  250. 


344      THE  REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND   AND   SCOTLAND. 

a  strong  repugnance  even  to  things  indifferent,  which  had 
formed  part  of  the  polity  or  ritual  of  the  mystical  Baby- 
lon. Thus  Bishop  Hooper,  who  died  manfully  at  Glouces- 
ter for  his  religion,  long  refused  to  wear  the  episcopal 
vestments.  Bishop  Ridley,  a  martyr  of  still  greater  re- 
nown, pulled  down  the  ancient  altars  of  his  diocese,  and 
ordered  the  Eucharist  to  be  administered  in  the  middle  of 
churches,  at  tables  which  the  Papists  irreverently  termed 
oyster-boards.  Bishop  Jewel  pronounced  the  clerical  garb 
to  be  a  stage  dress,  a  fool's  coat,  a  relic  of  the  Amorites, 
and  promised  that  he  would  spare  no  labor  to  extirpate 
such  degrading  absurdities.  Archbishop  Grindal  long 
hesitated  about  accepting  a  mitre,  from  dislike  of  what 
he  regarded  as  the  mummery  of  consecration.  Bishop 
Parkhurst  uttered  a  fervent  prayer  that  the  Church  of 
England  would  propose  to  herself  the  Church  of  Zurich 
as  the  absolute  pattern  of  a  Christian  community."  1  But 
the  Queen,  to  whom  the  Royal  Supremacy  was  the  most 
valuable  part  of  Protestantism,  was  inflexibly  opposed  to 
the  proposed  changes.  Not  without  difficulty  did  the  new 
bishops  succeed  in  procuring  the  removal  of  images 
from  the  churches.  The  great  fear  of  the  Protestant 
leaders  was  that  the  Queen  would  be  driven  over  to  the 
Catholic   Church,  in  case  they  undertook  to  withstand 

1  History  of  England,  i.  47.  Strype  says  that  when  Grindal  was  appointed 
Bishop  of  London,  he  "  remained  under  some  scruples  of  conscience  about  some 
things;  especially  the  habits  and  certain  ceremonies  required  to  be  used  of  such 
as  were  bishops.  For  the  Reformed  in  these  times  generally  went  upon  the 
ground,  that,  in  order  to  the  complete  freeing  of  the  Church  of  Christ  from  the 
errors  and  corruptions  of  Rome,  every  usage  and  custom  practiced  by  that  apos- 
tate and  idolatrous  Church  should  be  abolished,  and  that  the  service  of  God 
should  be  most  simple,  stript  of  all  that  show,  pomp,  and  appearance,  thai  has 
been  customarily  used  before,  esteeming  all  that  to  be  no  better  than  supersti- 
tious and  anti-Christian.''  Life  <f  Grindal,  p.  23.  In  the  preceding  reign, 
Martin  Bucer,  writing  under  Cranmer's  roof  at  Lambeth,  under  date  of  April 
26,  1549,  speaks  of  the  retention  of  the  vestments,  chrism,  etc.,  in  the  Anglican 
ritual,  and  say-:  "They  affirm  that  there  is  no  superstition  in  these  things, 
and  that  they  are  only  to  he  retained  for  a  time,  lest  the  people,  not  having  yet 
learned  Christ,  should  be  deterred  by  too  extensive  innovations  from  embracing 
his  religion,"  etc.     Original  Letters,  ii.  535. 


DEVELOPMENT    OF   PURITANISM.  345 

her  wishes.  Most  of  the  eminent  foreign  divines  on  the 
continent,  whom  they  consulted,  counseled  them  to  re- 
main in  the  Church,  and  not  desert  their  offices,  but  to 
labor  patiently  to  effect  the  reforms  to  which  the  Queen 
would  not  then  consent.  But  many  of  the  clergy  did  not 
conform  to  the  obnoxious  parts  of  the  ritual.  This  oc- 
casioned much  disorder  in  worship,  and,  as  the  Puritans 
were  not  at  all  disposed  to  follow  their  own  ways  in  si- 
lence, it  gave  rise  also  to  much  contention.  The  Queen 
resolved  to  enforce  uniformity,  and  required  her  bishops, 
especially  Parker,  to  prosecute  the  delinquents.  At 
length,  the  Puritans  began  to  organize  in  separate  con- 
venticles, as  their  meetings  were  styled  by  their  adver- 
saries, in  order  to  worship  according  to  the  method  which 
they  approved.  They  were  numerous  ;  their  clergy  were 
learned  and  effective  preachers,  and  both  clergy  and  peo- 
ple were  willing  to  suffer  for  the  sake  of  conscience.  The 
cruel,  but  ineffectual,  persecution  of  them,  darkens  the 
reign  of  Elizabeth,  especially  the  latter  part  of  it. 
Among  the  other  ends  for  which  the  Puritans  were  always 
zealous,  were  stricter  discipline  in  the  Church,  and  an 
educated,  earnest  ministry,  to  take  the  place  of  the 
thousands   of  notoriously  incompetent  clergymen.1 

If  Hooper  was  the  parent  of  Puritanism  in  its  incipient 
form,  a  like  relation  to  Puritanism,  as  a  ripe  and  devel- 
oped system,  belongs  to  Thomas  Cartwright,  Lady  Mar- 
garet's Professor  of  Divinity  at  Cambridge.  About  the 
year  1570,  he  began  to  set  forth  the  principles  respecting 
the  polity  of  the  Church  and  the  proper  relation  of  the 
Church  to  the  State,  which  formed  the  creed  of  the  body 
of  the  Puritan  party  afterwards.  The  first  point  in  his 
system  is  that  the  Scriptures  are  not  only  the  rule  of 
faith,  but  also  the  rule  for  the  government  and  disci- 
pline of  the  Church.     They  present  a  scheme  of  polity 

1  The  objections  of  the  Puritans  to  the  Anglican  Ritual  are  stated  and  ex- 
plained by  Neal,  History  of  the  Puritans,  I.  ch.  v. 


346       THE   REFORMATION    IN   ENGLAND   AN.)   SCOTLAND. 

from  which  the  Church  is  not  at  liberty  to  depart.  The 
second  point  is  that  the  management  of  Church  affairs 
belongs  to  the  Church  itself  and  its  officers,  and  not  to 
civil  magistrates.  Cartwright  held  to  the  old  view  of  the 
distinction  between  ecclesiastical  and  civil  society.  While 
the  magistrate  may  not  dictate  to  the  Church  in  matters 
pertaining  to  doctrine  and  discipline,  he  still  is  bound  to 
protect  and  defend  the  Church,  and  see  that  its  decrees 
are  executed.  Cartwright  was  no  advocate  of  toleration. 
In  his  system,  Church  and  State  are  indissolubly  linked, 
and  there  must  be  uniformity  in  religion.  But  what  that 
system  of  religion  and  worship  shall  be,  which  it  belongs 
to  the  magistrate  to  maintain,  it  is  for  the  Church  in  its 
own  assemblies,  and  not  for  him  to  decide.  Moreover, 
Cartwright  contended  that  the  system  of  polity  which  the 
Scriptures  ordain  is  the  Presbyterian,  and  that  prelacy  is, 
therefore,  unlawful. 

This  was,  of  course,  a  blow  at  the  Queen's  Supremacy, 
as  it  had  been  understood  and  exercised.  It  is  true  that 
Elizabeth  disclaimed  the  title  of  Head  of  the  Church  and 
called  herself  its  Governor.  The  thirty-seventh  Article, 
which  was  framed  under  Elizabeth,  expressly  denies  to 
the  civil  magistrate  the  right  to  administer  the  Word  or 
the  sacraments.  But  her  visitatorial  power  had  no  defined 
limits.  She  did  not  hesitate  to  prescribe  what  should  be 
preached  and  what  should  not  be,  and  what  i  ites  should 
be  practiced  and  what  omitted,  in  a  style  which  reminds 
one  of  the  Byzantine  emperors  in  the  age  of  Justinian. 
She  was  not  satisfied  with  disposing  of  ecclesiastical  pos- 
sessions at  her  will.  Sir  Christopher  Hatton,  one  of  the 
Queen's  favorites,  built  his  house  in  the  garden  of  Cox, 
the  Bishop  of  Ely  ;  and  when  he  attempted  to  prevent 
the  spoliation,  she  wrote  him  a  laconic  note,  in  which  she 
threatened  with  an  oath  to  "  unfrock  "  him  if  he  did  not 
instantly  comply  with  her  behest.  She  forbade,  in  the 
most  peremptory  manner,  the  meetings  of  clergymen  for 


THE   INDEPENDENTS.  347 

discussion  and  mutual  improvement,  called  "  prophesy- 
ings."  When  Archbishop  Grindal  objected  to  her  order 
and  reminded  her  that  the  regulation  of  such  matters 
belongs  to  the  Church  itself  and  to  its  bishops,  she  kept 
him  suspended  from  his  office  for  a  number  of  years. 
The  doctrine  of  Cartwright  annihilated  such  pretensions. 
But  the  controversy  which  it  opened  upon  the  proper  con- 
stitution of  the  Church,  especially  upon  the  questions  relat- 
ing to  episcopacy,  was  destined  to  shake  the  English  Church 
to  its  foundations.  He  found  a  vigorous  opponent  in  Whit- 
gift  ;  and  there  were  not  wanting  many  other  learned  and 
eager  disputants  on  each  side.  Before  the  end  of  Eliza- 
beth's reign  a  division  appeared  among  the  Puritans, 
through  the  rise  of  the  Independents.1  They  took  the 
ground  that  national  churches  have  no  rightful  existence. 
They  differed  from  the  other  Puritans  in  being  Separa- 
tists. According  to  their  system,  as  it  is  explained  later 
by  John  Robinson,  their  principal  leader,  the  local  Church 
is  independent ;  autonomic  in  its  polity ;  its  members 
being  bound  together  by  a  covenant  ;  its  teachers  being 
elected,  and  its  discipline  managed  by  popular  vote.  The 
Independents  did  not  recognize  the  Church  of  England, 
in  its  national  form,  as  a  true  Church  ;  but  the  separate 
parish  churches  organized  under  it,  might  be  true  churches 
of  Christ.  Their  prime  fault  was  the  neglect  of  disci- 
pline, in  consequence  of  which  some  other  proof  of  Chris- 
tian character  must  be  required,  besides  membership  in 
them.  During  the  reign  of  Elizabeth,  the  Independents 
had  acquired  no  considerable  power,  although  they  were 
the  victims  of  cruel  persecution. 

About  the  end  of  the  sixteenth  century,  a  new  turn 
was  given  to  the  Puritan  controversy  by  the  great  work 
of  Hooker,   the  treatise  on   Ecclesiastical   Polity.      The 

1  Hanburv,  Hist.  Memorials  relative  to  the  Independents  (3  vols.  London, 
1839).  Waddington,  Congregational  Church  History  from  the.  Reformation  to 
1662.     (London,  1862.) 


348       THE   REFORMATION  IN   ENGLAND  AND   SCOTLAND. 

elevated  tone  of  this  work,  combined  with  its  vigorous 
reasoning  and  its  eloquence,  seemed  to  take  up  the  con- 
troversy into  a  higher  atmosphere.1  Hooker  endeavors  to 
go  to  the  bottom  of  the  subject  by  investigating  the  na- 
ture of  laws  and  the  origin  of  authority.  One  of  his  fun- 
damental propositions  is  that  the  Church  is  endued  with 
a  legislative  authority  by  its  Founder,  within  the  limits 
set  by  Him.  It  may  vary  its  organization  and  methods  of 
worship,  and  it  is  shut  down  to  no  prescribed  system.  He 
holds  that  Episcopacy  is  an  apostolical  institution,  and  is 
the  best  form  of  government ;  but  he  appears  to  think 
that  the  general  Church,  "  as  the  highest  subject  of 
power,"  is  not  absolutely  bound  to  adhere  to  this  system. 
Since  the  Church  is  thus  an  authorized  lawgiver,  it  is 
factious  to  disobey  the  regulations  which  the  Church  es- 
tablishes, where  they  do  not  contravene  the  laws  of  its 
Founder.  Hooker  identifies  Church  and  State,  consider- 
ing the  two  as  different  aspects  or  functions  of  one  and 
the  same  society.  The  supremacy  of  the  king  over  the 
Church  is  the  logical  corollary.  It  is  remarkable  that  he 
answers  the  complaint  that  Christian  people  are  deprived 
of  a  voice  in  the  choice  of  their  officers,  by  bringing  for- 
ward the  theory  of  the  social  compact,  the  same  theory  as 
that  which  Locke  afterwards  presented.  In  truth,  this 
theory  is  one  of  the  cardinal  principles  of  Hooker.  It  is 
a  government  of  laws,  and  not  a  despotism,  which  he  ad- 
vocates both  for  the  State  and  for  the  Church.  His  con- 
ception of  a  limited  monarchy  was  one  not  agreeable  to 
the  theory  or  practice  of  the  Tudors.  But  he  curiously 
applies  this  theory  to  justify  such  customs  as  the  control 
exercised  by  patrons  in  the  appointment  of  the  clergy. 

As  we  look  back  to  the  beginnings  of  the  Puritan  con- 
troversy in  the  reign  of  Edward  and  at  the  accession  of 

1  The  temper  of  Hooker  may  be  judged  from  the  following  noble  sentence: 
"There will  come  a  time  when  three  words,  uttered  with  charity  and  meekness, 
shall  receive  a  far  more  blessed  reward  than  three  thousand  volumes  written 
with  disdainful  sharpness  of  wit."    Ecclesiast.  Polity  :  Preface. 


THE   PURITAN    CONTROVERSY.  349 

t 
Elizabeth,  it  seems  plain  that  the  questions  were  those 

on  which  good  and  wise  men  among  the  Protestants 
might  differ.  Half  of  the  nation  was  Catholic.  The 
clergy  were  of  such  a  character  that  out  of  ten  thousand 
not  more  than  a  few  hundred  chose  to  leave  their  places 
rather  than  conform  to  the  Protestant  system  of  Ed- 
ward. A  great  part  of  them  were  extremely  ignorant, 
and  an  equal  number  preferred  the  Roman  Catholic  sys- 
tem to  any  other.  How  can  the  people  ever  be  won 
from  popery,  the  Puritans  demanded,  if  no  very  percep- 
tible change  is  made  in  the  modes  of  worship  and  in  the 
apparel  of  the  ministry  ?  If  the  distinctive  emblems  and 
badges  of  popery  are  left,  how  shall  the  people  be  brought 
out  of  that  system,  and  be  led  to  give  up  the  whole  theory 
of  priestly  mediation  ?  But  the  state  of  things  that  moved 
one  party  to  adopt  this  conclusion,  had  an  opposite  effect 
upon  the  judgment  of  their  opponents.  Protestantism 
may  fail  altogether,  they  argued,  if  it  breaks  too  abruptly 
with  the  traditional  customs  to  which  a  great  part  of  the 
nation  are  attached.  Better  to  retain  whatever  is  any- 
wise compatible  with  the  essentials  of  Protestantism,  and 
wean  the  people  from  their  old  superstitions  by  a  gentler 
process.  Hold  on  to  the  apparel  and  the  ceremonies,  but 
carefully  instruct  the  people  as  to  their  real  significance. 
Thus  the  true  doctrine  will  be  saved  ;  and,  moreover,  the 
religious  life  of  the  nation  will  preserve,  in  a  degree,  its 
continuity  and  connection  with  the  past.  The  tract  of 
Lord  Bacon  on  the  "  Pacification  of  the  Church,"  which 
was  written  in  the  reign  of  the  successor  of  Elizabeth,  is 
a  calm  and  moderate  review  of  the  Puritan  controversy, 
in  which  both  parties  come  in  for  about  an  equal  share  of 
censure.1  He  complains  of  the  Puritans,  among  other 
things,  for  insisting  that  there  is  one  prescribed  form  of 
discipline  for  all  churches  and  for  all  time.  He  asserts 
that  there  are  "  the  general  rules  of  government :  but  for 

1  Bacon's  Works  (Montagu's  eel.),  vii.  61  seq. 


350      THE   REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND   AND   SCOTLAND. 

rites  and  ceremonies,  and  for  the  particular  hierarchies, 
policies,  and  disciplines  of  churches,  they  be  left  at  large." l 
He  complains  of  "  the  partial  affectation  and  imitation," 
by  the  Puritans,  "  of  the  foreign  churches."  But  in  re- 
spect to  many  of  the  evils  against  which  the  Puritans  pro- 
tested, such  as  non-residence,  pluralities,  and  the  igno- 
rance of  the  clergy,  he  is  in  sympathy  with  them.  He 
thinks  that  liberty  should  have  been  granted  in  various 
things  which  were  allowed  by  the  ruling  party  to  be  in- 
different. He  would  give  up  the  required  use  of  the  ring 
in  marriage  ;  would  give  liberty  in  respect  to  the  surplice  ; 
and  he  would  not  exact  subscriptions  for  rites  and  cere- 
monies, as  for  articles  of  doctrine.  At  the  time  when 
Bacon  wrote,  the  opponents  of  the  Puritans  were  begin- 
ning to  look  with  favor  on  a  theoiw  which  had  not  been 
held  by  them  before,  that  the  episcopal  polity  is  necessary 
to  the  existence  of  a  church.  Thus  the  Episcopalians,  as 
well  as  the  Presbyterians,  contended  alike  for  the  exclu- 
sive lawfulness  of  their  respective  systems. 

The  controversy  of  Churchman  and  Puritan  is  not  ex- 
tinct ;  but  however  opinions  may  differ  in  regard  to  the 
English  Reformation  and  the  merits  of  the  principal  actors 
in  it,  every  one  at  the  present  day  must  rejoice  that  no 
tempest  of  iconoclasm  ever  swept  over  England.  Who- 
ever looks  on  those 

"  Swelling  hills  and  spacious  plains, 

Besprent  from  shore  to  shore  with  steeple-towers," 

can  partake  of  a  brilliant  French  writer's  admiration  for 
44  that  practical  good  sense  which  has  effected  revolutions 
without  committing  ravages  ;  which,  while  reforming  in 
all  directions,  has  destroyed  nothing ;  which  has  preserved 
both  its  trees  and  its  constitution,  which  has  lopped  off 
the  dead   branches  without  leveling  the    trunk  ;    which 

1  "  I,  for  my  part,  do  confess,  that,  in  revolving  the  Scriptures,  I  could  never 
find  any  such  thing;  hut  that  God  had  left  the  like  liberty  to  the  Church  gov- 
ernment as  he  had  done  to  the  civil  government,"  etc.  —  Bacon's  Works,  vii.68. 


CONDITION    OF   SCOTLAND.  351 

alone,  in  our  Jays,  among  all  nations,  is  in  the  enjoyment 
not  only  of  the  present  but  the  past."  1 

The  history  of  the  Scottish  Reformation  is  closely  inter- 
woven with  that  of  Elizabeth's  reign.  Her  security 
depended  on  the  divisions  of  her  enemies,  on  the  mutual 
jealousies  of  the  Catholic  powers.  To  prevent  them  from 
making  common  cause  against  her,  was  one  of  the  prin- 
cipal elements  of  her  policy.  It  was,  also,  essential  that 
neither  of  them  should  acquire  such  strength  and  liberty 
of  action  as  would  endanger  her  safety.  Scotland,  the 
old  enemy  of  England,  and  the  old  ally  of  France,  was 
the  point  from  which,  as  she  feared  and  her  enemies 
hoped,  the  most  dangerous  assault  might  be  made  upon 
her  and  upon  English  Protestantism.  The  peril  was 
much  augmented  by  the  position  of  Mary,  Queen  of 
Scots,  in  relation  to  the  Catholic  governments,  and  by 
the  schemes  and  aspirations  that  grew  out  of  her  claims 
to  the  English  throne. 

In  Scotland  the  spirit  of  feudalism  was  not  reduced,  as 
it  was  in  England :  the  feeling  of  clanship  was  strong, 
and  the  nobles  felt  none  of  that  deference  to  the  sover- 
eign which  was  manifested  in  the  neighbor  country  and 
in  France.  The  Scottish  King  was  without  a  standing 
army  or  even  a  body-guard,  and  must  depend  for  his  per- 
sonal protection,  as  well  as  for  his  support  in  war,  on  the 
feudal  militia  of  the  country,  who  took  the  field  under 
their  own  lords.  The  natural  roughness  of  the  aristoc- 
racy of  Scotland  was  little  softened,  except  in  a  few  in- 
stances, by  their  intercourse  with  the  polite  nobility  of 
France.  On  the  contrary,  "  their  dress  was  that  of  the 
camp  or  stable  ;  they  were  dirty  in  person,  and  abrupt 
and  disrespectful  in  manner,  carrying  on  their  disputes, 
and  even  fighting  out  their  fierce  quarrels,  in  the  presence 
of   royalty,  which  had   by   no  means   accomplished   the 

1  Taine,  History  of  English  Literature,  ii.  517. 


352       THE   REFORMATION   IN   ENGLAND   AND   SCOTLAND. 

serene,  imperial  isolation  which  the  sovereigns  of  France 
had  achieved  since  the  clays  of  Francis  I.  With  the  ex- 
ception of  one  or  two  castles,  which  had  been  built  in  the 
French  style,  the  best  families  were  crowded  into  narrow 
square  towers,  in  which  all  available  means  had  been  ex- 
hausted in  strength,  leaving  nothing  for  comfort  or 
beauty."  1  The  royal  residences,  with  the  exception  of  the 
new  palace,  Holyrood,  were  little  better.  The  common 
people,  poor  but  proud,  self-willed  and  boisterous  in  their 
manners,  could  not,  as  in  France,  be  kept  at  a  distance  from 
royalty.  In  the  reign  of  James  V.,  and  generally  during 
the  regency  of  his  Queen,  the  clergy  and  the  sovereign 
were  allied  by  a  common  desire  to  curb  the  power  of  the 
nobility.  The  clergy  profited  by  the  forfeitures  and  pen- 
alties inflicted  on  the  aristocracy.  This  was  one  reason 
why  the  nobles  were  inclined  to  favor  Protestantism. 
The  lay  gentry  had  their  eyes  fixed  on  the  vast  estates  of 
their  clerical  rivals.2  The  Protestant  tendency,  however, 
was  opposed  by  the  fixed,  hereditary  feeling  of  hostility 
to  England  and  to  the  predominance  of  English  influence. 
Perhaps  there  was  no  country  where  the  Church  stood 
in  greater  need  of  reformation,  than  Scotland.  The  clergy 
were  generally  illiterate.  In  the  fifteenth  century,  three 
universities  had  been  founded  in  Scotland  —  St.  Andrews, 
Glasgow,  and  Aberdeen ;  but  they  appear  to  have  ac- 
complished little  in  elevating  the  character  of  the  clergy, 
although  they  arose  in  time  to  serve  effectually  the  cause 
of  the  Reformation.  In  Scotland,  the  Reformation  was 
not  preceded,  but  followed,  by  the  revival  of  letters. 
Not  only  was  the  law  of  celibacy  practically  abolished, 
but  the  priestly  order  was  extremely  dissolute.  Half  of 
the  property  of  the  kingdom  was  in  their  hands.  The 
covetousness  of  the  lay  lords  and  a  prevalent  just  indig- 
nation at  the  profligacy  of  the  clerical  body  were  the 
moving  forces  of  the  Reformation.      It  should  be  men- 

1  Burton,  History  of  Scotland,  iv.  173.  2  Burton,  iv.  25. 


THE   REGENT    MARY.  353 

tioned  that  praiseworthy,  but  ineffectual,  attempts  were 
made  by  the  old  Church  to  abolish  the  most  crying 
abuses.1  After  the  Protestant  spirit  began  to  manifest 
itself,  when  the  clergy  met  the  rebukes  that  were  ad- 
dressed to  them  with  cruel  persecution,  the  popular  indig- 
nation acquired  a  double  intensity.  We  find,  throughout 
the  Scottish  Reformation,  a  tone  of  unrelenting  hostility 
to  the  papal  system  of  religion  ;  a  temper  identical  with 
that  of  the  prophets  of  the  Old  Testament  in  reference 
to  formalism  and  idolatry  in  the  Jewish  Church. 

There  were  martyrs  to  the  Reformation  in  the  reign  of 
James  V.,  the  most  noted  of  whom  was  Patrick  Hamilton, 
who  had  been  a  student  at  Marburg,  and  whose  death 
made  a  profound  impression.  Under  the  regency  of  the 
widow  of  James,  after  the  assassination  of  Cardinal  Bea- 
ton, the  principal  instigator  of  persecution,  there  was,  for  a 
long  time,  a  mild  policy  in  the  treatment  of  heresy.  The 
Earl  of  Arran,  the  Lord  Protector,  at  first  favored  the 
Protestant  side.  During  the  reign  of  Mary  of  England, 
the  hostility  of  France  to  Philip  of  Spain  and  to  his 
English  Queen,  operated  to  secure  a  lenient  treatment  in 
Scotland  for  Protestant  refugees  from  across  the  border. 
The  Conspiracy  of  Amboise  had  not  then  taken  place, 
and  the  Guises,  the  brothers  of  the  Regent,  had  not  fairly 
entered  on  their  grand  crusade  against  the  Huguenots 
and  the  House  of  Bourbon.  But  Mary  of  England  died 
in  November,  1558,  and  was  succeeded  by  Elizabeth. 
Events  were  hastening  toward  a  religious  war  in  France : 
the  Conspiracy  of  Amboise  was  formed  in  1560.  At  the 
instigation  of  her  brothers,  as  it  is  supposed,  the  Regent 
changed  her  course,  and  undertook  to  carry  out  repressive 
measures.  It  was  in  1559  that  John  Knox  returned  to 
Scotland  from  the  Continent,  and  the  crisis  of  the  Scottish 
Reformation  soon  ensued. 

1  Burton,  iv.  40.    Lee,  Lectures  on  the  History  of  the  Church  of  Scotland, 
i.  72  seq. 

23 


354      THE   REFORMATION   IN   ENGLAND   AND   SCOTLAND. 

Little  is  known  of  the  parentage  of  Knox.  At  the 
University  of  Glasgow,  he  was  a  contemporary  of  the  cel- 
ebrated scholar  and  historian,  George  Buchanan ;  and  he 
had  among  his  teachers  John  Mair,  or  Major,  who  had  been 
in  the  University  of  Paris,  and  had  brought  home  with 
him  the  Gallican  theory  of  church  government,  together 
with  radical  opinions  upon  the  right  of  revolution,  and  the 
derivation  of  kingly  authority  from  popular  consent.  Ma- 
jor had  also  imbibed  the  opinion  of  the  ancients  that  ty- 
rannicide is  a  virtue.  He  was  not  an  able  man ;  yet  he 
may  have  contributed  somewhat  to  the  development  of 
kindred  opinions  in  the  mind  of  Knox.1  Knox  read  dili- 
gently Augustine  and  Jerome,  and  heartily  embraced  the 
Reformed  faith.  Beaton  was  assassinated  in  1543  by  con- 
spirators, some  of  whom  were  moved  by  resentment  for 
private  injuries,  and  some  by  a  desire  to  deliver  the  country 
from  his  cruelties.  Knox  himself  professes  to  acquiesce 
in  this  event,  so  far  as  it  was  providential,  or  the  act  of 
God ;  though  it  is  evident,  likewise,  that  he  has  little,  if 
any,  repugnance  towards  it,  considered  as  the  act  of 
man.  The  enemies  of  Beaton  took  refuge  in  the  Castle 
of  St.  Andrews.  Knox  joined  them,  with  private  pupils, 
whom  he  was  then  instructing.  There  he  was  called  to 
preach,  and  reluctantly  complied  with  the  imperative 
summons  of  his  brethren.  But  the  castle  was  taken  by 
the  French  ;  he  was  carried  as  a  captive  to  France,  and 
experienced  hard  usage  there.  After  his  release,  he  was 
actively  employed  in  preaching,  principally  in  the  North 
of  England,  and  produced  a  great  effect  by  his  honesty, 
earnestness,  and  blunt  eloquence.  Not  fully  satisfied  with 
the  ecclesiastical  system  established  by  Cranmer,  he  de- 
clined a  bishopric  in  the  English  Church.  During  the 
reign  of  Mary,  lie  was  for  a  while  at  Frankfort,  and  there 
led  the  party  in  the  Church  of  the  exiles,  who  were  op- 

1  McCrie,  Life  of  Knox  (6th  ed.,  1839),  p.  30.    Mair  is  ridiculed  by  Buchanan. 
Lee,  i.  33,  34. 


KNOX  AND  THE  LORDS  OF  THE  CONGREGATION    355 

posed  to  the  use  of  the  English  Prayer-book,  without 
certain  alterations  which  they  demanded.  The  most  of 
this  period  he  spent  at  Geneva,  in  the  society  of  Calvin 
and  the  other  Genevan  preachers,  and  in  active  labor  as 
pastor  of  a  church  composed  of  English  and  Scotch  resi- 
dents. It  was  at  Geneva  that  he  put  forth  his  unlucky 
publication,  entitled  the  "  First  Blast  of  the  Trumpet 
against  the  Monstrous  Regimen  of  Women;"  a  work 
which  was  specially  aimed,  as  he  afterwards  explained  to 
Mary  of  Scotland  and  to  Elizabeth,  at  "  the  bloody  Jeze- 
bel "  who  was  then  reigning  in  England,  but  which  denied 
the  right  of  women  to  rule  nations,  as  a  general  proposition 
in  ethics.  Notwithstanding  the  inconvenience  which  this 
doctrine  occasioned  him  afterwards,  he  had  the  manliness 
to  refuse  to  retract  it.  His  clumsy  attempts  at  apology, 
for  he  was  even  more  awkward  in  framing  apologies  than 
Luther,  did  not  conciliate  the  good- will  of  Elizabeth. 

During  the  reign  of  Mary  of  England,  while  there  was 
war  between  France  and  Spain,  the  Scottish  exiles  were 
able  to  come  back  to  their  country.  Knox  returned  in 
1555,  and  in  the  following  year  the  Scottish  Protestant 
lords  united  in  a  solemn  Covenant  to  defend  their  relig- 
ion against  persecution.  The  government  once  more 
renewed  its  repressive  measures,  and  Knox,  who  had  held 
his  meetings  in  various  places  with  much  effect,  was  again 
forced  to  leave.  The  Scottish  "  Lords  of  the  Congrega- 
tion "  now  resolved  at  every  hazard  to  put  an  end  to  the 
persecution.  The  jealous  feeling  which  was  awakened 
respecting  the  designs  of  France  upon  Scotland,  and  which 
was  augmented  by  the  marriage  of  Mary  to  the  Dauphin, 
combined  a  powerful  party  against  the  Regent.  The 
lords  and  the  Protestant  preachers  stood  in  opposition  to 
the  Queen  and  the  Catholic  clergy.  Knox  returned  and 
thundered  in  the  pulpit  against  the  idolatry  of  the  Romish 
worship.  In  Perth  a  sermon  in  denunciation  of  the  wor- 
ship of  images  was  followed  by  a  rising  of  what  Knox 


356      THE   REFORMATION   IN   ENGLAND   AND    SCOTLAND. 

calls  "  the  rascal  multitude,"  which  demolished  them,  and 
pulled  down  the  monasteries.  The  same  thing  was  done 
elsewhere ;  and  this  iconoclasm  is  one  of  the  character- 
istic features  of  the  Scottish  Reform.  In  the  armed  con- 
test that  ensued,  the  Regent  gained  such  advantages  that 
Elizabeth  was  reluctantly  obliged  to  furnish  open  assist- 
ance to  the  Protestant  party,  to  save  Scotland  from  falling 
into  the  hands  of  the  French.  Her  position  was  an  em- 
barrassing one  to  herself.  She  detested  Knox  and  his 
principles.  She  abhorred,  especially,  the  political  theory 
which  the  Scottish  Protestants  avowed  and  put  in  prac- 
tice, that  subjects  may  take  up  arms  against  their  sove- 
reign. Yet  the  political  situation  was  such  that  she  was 
obliged,  as  a  choice  of  evils,  to  render  them  aid.  This 
she  had  done  before  clandestinely.  But  now  the  peril 
was  so  imminent,  that  she  was  forced  to  come  out  in  the 
face  of  day  and  send  her  troops  to  the  assistance  of  the 
lords.  Even  the  King  of  Spain,  the  champion  of  Cathol- 
icism, was  so  unwilling  to  see  the  French  masters  of 
Scotland,  that  he  rejoiced  in  the  success  of  Elizabeth's 
interference.  The  Treaty  of  Edinburgh,  by  which  the 
French  were  to  evacuate  Leith  and  leave  the  country, 
limited  essentially  the  prerogatives  of  the  Scottish  sove- 
reign :  war  and  peace  could  not  be  made  without  the  con- 
sent of  the  Estates.  The  Queen-regent  died  on  the  10th 
of  June,  1560.  The  Estates  convened  in  August.  The 
Calvinistic  Confession  of  Faith  was  approved,  the  Roman 
Catholic  religion  was  abolished,  and  the  administering  of 
the  mass,  or  attendance  upon  it,  was  forbidden  —  the 
penalty  lor  the  third  offense  being  death.  l*  On  the 
morning  of  the  25th  of  August,  1500,  the  Romish  hier- 
archy was  supreme;  in  the  evening  of  the  same  day, 
Calvinistic  Protestantism  was  established  in  its  stead."1 
But  whether  the  Acts  of  Parliament  would  abide  and 
be  effectual  or  not,  "  depended  on  events  yet  to  come." 

1  Burton,  iv.  8!). 


ACCESSION   OF   MARY.  357 

Knox  and  his  fellow-ministers  found  themselves  at  va- 
riance with  their  lay  supporters  on  the  question  of  the 
adoption  of  the  "  First  Book  of  Discipline,"  the  restraints 
of  which  were  not  at  all  acceptable  to  the  lords  and  lairds 
who  had  received  the  Calvinistic  doctrines  with  alacrity. 
There  was  involved  in  this  dispute  another  question  which 
came  up  separately  —  that  of  the  disposition  to  be  made  of 
ecclesiastical  property.  Knox  and  the  preachers  were 
bent  upon  devoting  it  to  the  new  Church,  for  the  sus- 
tenance of  ministers,  schools,  and  universities.  To  this 
measure  the  lords  of  the  congregation,  among  whom  the 
desire  for  the  lands  and  possessions  which  they  were  able 
to  appropriate  at  the  overthrow  of  the  old  religion,  was 
quite  as  potent  as  religious  zeal,  would  not  consent.  The 
new  Church  was  obliged  to  content  itself  with  a  portion 
of  the  property  that  had  belonged  to  the  old.  Knox, 
who  was  skillful  in  penetrating  the  political  schemes  of  his 
adversaries,  gave  his  lay  friends  credit  for  more  sincerity 
and  disinterestedness  than  they  really  had.  It  was  a 
weakness  that  sprang  out  of  his  own  simple-hearted  hon- 
esty and  zeal.  But  in  this  matter  of  the  "  Book  of  Dis- 
cipline "  and  the  Church  property,  he  saw  their  motives, 
and  gave  free  utterance  to  his  wrath. 

Francis  II.,  the  young  husband  of  Queen  Mary,  died 
on  the  loth  of  December,  1560.  By  this  event,  Catha- 
rine de  Medici,  who  hated  Mary,  acquired  power,  and  set 
about  the  work  of  mediating  between  the  two  contending 
parties  that  divided  France,  that  she  might  control  them 
both.  Scotland  was  relieved  from  danger  arising  out  of 
the  ambitious  plans  of  the  Guises.  Mary  returned  to  her 
native  kingdom  to  assume  her  crown.  We  need  not  give 
credence  to  the  extravagant  praises  of  such  admirers  as 
Brantome,  who  accompanied  her  on  her  voyage  to  Scot- 
land ;  but  that  she  was  beautiful  in  person,  of  graceful 
and  winning  manners,  quick-witted,  accomplished,  with 
a  boundless  fund  of    energy,   there   is  no  doubt.      She 


358      THE   REFORMATION    IN   ENGLAND   AND    SCOTLAND. 

had  grown  up  in  the  atmosphere  of  deceit  and  corruption 
which  surrounded  the  French  court,  in  the  society,  if  not 
under  the  influence,  of  Catharine  de  Medici.  Brantome 
himself,  the  licentious  chronicler,  and  Chatelar,  the  ill- 
starred  poet,  another  of  her  French  attendants,  who  was 
afterwards  beheaded  for  hiding  himself  under  her  bed, 
suggest  in  part  the  character  of  the  associations  in 
which  she  had  been  placed.  She  came  to  reign  over  a 
kingdom  where  the  strictest  form  of  Calvinism  had  been 
made  the  law  of  the  land.  No  contrast  can  be  more 
striking  than  that  presented  by  this  youthful  Queen,  fresh 
from  the  gayeties  of  her  "  dear  France  "  and  from  the 
homage  of  the  courtiers  that  thronged  her  steps,  and  the 
homely  and  austere  surroundings  of  her  new  abode. 
Brantome  records  that  she  wept  for  hours  together  on  the 
voyage  ;  and  when  she  saw  the  horses  that  had  been  sent 
to  convey  her  from  Leith  to  Holyrood,  she  again  burst 
into  tears.  The  situation  was  such  that  any  active  oppo- 
sition to  the  newly  established  religion  would  have  been 
futile  and  disastrous  to  herself.  The  Guises  were  ab- 
sorbed in  the  civil  contest  in  France,  and  could  not  undo 
the  work  which  the  Protestants  in  Scotland  had  effected. 
Whatever  hopes  Mary  had  of  either  succeeding  or  sup- 
planting Elizabeth  would  have  been  destroyed  by  a  pre- 
mature exhibition  of  an  anti-Protestant  policy.  Mary 
contented  herself  with  celebrating  mass  in  her  own 
chapel  and  in  other  places  where  she  sojourned.  The 
principal  direction  of  affairs  was  left  in  the  hands  of  her 
half-brother,  the  Earl  of  Murray,  the  leader  of  the 
Protestant  nobles.  She  even  united  with  Murray  in 
crushing  the  Earl  of  Huntley,  the  richest  and  most 
powerful  of  the  Catholic  lords,  who,  however,  had  not 
shown  himself  a  steady  or  disinterested  friend  of  the  old 
religion.  The  enthusiastic  admirers  and  apologists  of 
Mary  maintain  that  she  was  sincerely  in  favor  of  tolera- 
tion.    They  would  make  her  a  kind  of  apostle  of  religous 


POLICY   OF   MARY.  359 

liberty.  It  is  an  unreasonable  stretch  ot  charity,  how- 
ever, to  suppose  that  she  would  not  from  the  beginning 
have  rejoiced  in  the  restoration,  and,  had  it  been  feasible, 
the  forcible  restoration  of  the  old  religion.  It  is  one  of 
her  good  points  that  she  never  forsook  her  own  faith 
from  motives  of  self-interest,  and  never  swerved  from  her 
fidelity  to  it,  save  in  one  instance  and  for  a  brief  interval, 
when  she  was  carried  away  by  her  passion  for  Both  well. 
That  she  should  "  serve  the  time  and  still  commode  her- 
self discreetly  and  gently  with  her  own  subjects,"  and 
"  in  effect  to  repose  most  on  them  of  the  reformed  relig- 
ion," was  the  policy  which  had  been  sketched  for  her  in 
France,  as  we  learn  from  her  faithful  friend,  Sir  James 
Melville.1  Her  letters  to  Pope  Pius  IV.,  and  to  her 
uncle,  the  Cardinal  of  Lorraine,  in  1563,  plainly  declare 
her  inclination  to  bring  back  the  old  religious  system  to 
its  former  supremacy.  She  steadfastly  withheld  her  as- 
sent from  the  acts  of  Parliament  which  changed  the  re- 
ligion of  the  country ;  and  it  was  an  unsettled  constitu- 
tional question  whether  acts  of  this  nature  were  valid 
without  the  sovereign's  approval.  Murray  conducted  the 
government  with  a  view  to  keep  in  check  both  of  the  re- 
ligious parties,  to  maintain  the  Protestant  establishment, 
but  at  the  same  time  to  protect  Mary  in  the  personal  en- 
joyment of  her  own  worship. 

The  resolution  of  the  Queen  to  have  mass  in  her  chapel, 
and  the  secret  design,  which  Knox  more  and  more  believed 
her  to  cherish,  to  reestablish  popery,  found  in  that  reformer 
an  immovable  antagonist.  His  "  History  of  the  Reforma- 
tion of  Religion  in  Scotland,"  that  quaint  and  original 
work,  in  which  he  describes  his  own  career,  narrates  the 
rise  and  progress  of  the  great  conflict,  in  which  the  Queen, 
with  her  rare  powers  of  fascination  and  influence,  stood  on 
one  side,  and  he  on  the  other.  When  the  preparations  for 
the  first  mass  were  perceived  (on  the  24th  of  August, 

1  Memoirs,  p.  88. 


360      THE  REFORMATION   IN   ENGLAND   AND   SCOTLAND. 

1561),  "  the  hearts  of  all  the  godly,"  he  says,  "  began  to 
be  bolden ;  and  men  began  openly  to  speak,  i  shall  that 
idol  be  suffered  again  to  take  place  within  this  realm  ? 
It  shall  not.'  "  1  It  was  proposed  that  the  "  idolater  priest 
should  die  the  death  according  to  God's  law."  But  Mur- 
ray guarded  the  chapel  door  "  that  none  should  have  en- 
trance to  trouble  the  priest."  Murray's  excuse  was, 
however,  "  that  he  would  stop  all  Scotsmen  to  enter  the 
mass."  After  a  little  while,  the  Protestant  lords,  out  of 
respect  to  the  Queen's  declaration  that  her  conscience 
bound  her  to  adhere  to  the  obnoxious  rite,  were  disposed 
to  permit  her  to  do  so.  They  were  bewitched,  as  Knox 
thought,  by  the  enchantress  ;  and  he  inveighed  in  his 
pulpit  against  idolatry,  declaring  that  one  mass  was 
"  more  fearful  unto  him  than  if  ten  thousand  armed  en- 
emies were  landed  in  any  part  of  the  realm,  of  purpose 
to  suppress  the  holy  religion."  The  Queen  resolved  to 
try  the  effect  of  a  personal  interview,  and  of  her  skill  in 
reasoning,  upon  this  most  intractable  and  powerful  of  all 
the  professors  of  the  new  faith.  None  were  present, 
within  hearing,  but  Murray.  It  was  the  first  of  the 
memorable  conferences  or  debates  which  Knox  had  with 
the  Queen.  We  follow  his  own  narrative.  "  The  Queen," 
he  says,  "  accused  him,  that  he  had  raised  a  part  of  her 
subjects  against  her  mother  and  against  herself  ;  that  he 
had  written  a  book  against  her  just  authority  —  she 
meant  the  Treatise  against  the  Regimen  of  Women  — 
which  she  had  and  should  cause  the  most  learned  in 
Europe  to  write  against  it ;  that  he  was  the  cause  of  great 
sedition  and  great  slaughter  in  England  ;  and  that  it  was 
said  to  her  that  all  that  he  did  was  by  necromancy.  To 
which  the  said  John  answered,  ;  Madam,  it  may  please 
your  majesty  patiently  to  hear  my  simple  answers.  And 
first,'  said  he,  4  if  to  teach  the  truth  of  God  in  sincerity, 
if  to  rebuke  idolatry,  and  to  will  a  people  to  worship  God 

1  Knox,  History,  etc.  (Glasgow,  1832),  p.  247, 


KNOX  AND  QUEEN  MARY.  861 

according  to  His  Word,  be  to  raise  subjects  against  their 
princes,  then  cannot  I  be  excused  ;  for  it  has  pleased  God 
of  His  mercy  to  make  me  one,  among  many,  to  disclose 
unto  this  realm  the  vanity  of  the  papistical  religion,  and 
the  deceit,  pride,  and  tyranny  of  that  Roman  Antichrist.' " 
He  began  with  this  perspicuous  statement  of  his  position. 
He  went  on  to  say  that  the  true  knowledge  of  God  pro- 
motes obedience  to  rulers,  and  that  Mary  had  received  as 
unfeigned  obedience  from  "  such  as  profess  Christ  Jesus,  " 
as  ever  her  ancestors  had  received  from  their  bishops.  As 
to  his  book,  he  was  ready  to  retract  if  he  could  be  con- 
futed, but  he  felt  able  to  sustain  its  doctrines  against 
any  ten  who  might  attempt  to  impugn  them.  Knox  had 
an  unbounded  confidence  in  his  cause,  and  no  distrust  of 
his  own  prowess  in  the  defense  of  it.  "  You  think,"  said 
Mary,  "  that  I  have  no  just  authority  ?  "  To  this  direct 
inquiry,  he  replied  by  referring  to  Plato's  "  Republic,"  in 
which  the  philosopher  "  damned  many  things  that  then 
were  maintained  in  the  world  ;  "  yet  this  did  not  prevent 
him  from  living  quietly  under  the  systems  of  government 
which  he  found  existing.  "  I  have  communicated/'  he 
added,  "my  judgment  to  the  world;  if  the  realm  finds 
no  inconveniency  in  the  regimen  of  a  woman,  that  which 
they  approve  I  shall  not  further  disallow,  than  within 
my  own  heart,  but  shall  be  as  well  content  to  live  under 
your  grace,  as  Paul  was  to  live  under  Nero.  ■  And  my 
hope  is  that  as  long  as  that  ye  defile  not  your  hands  with 
the  blood  of  the  saints  of  God,  that  neither  I  nor  that 
book  shall  either  hurt  you  or  your  authority  ;  for,  in  very 
deed,  madam,  that  book  was  written  most  especially 
against  that  wicked  Jezebel  of  England."  .  "  But,"  said 
the  Queen,  "  ye  speak  of  women  in  general."  To  this 
Knox  responded  that  he  could  be  charged  with  mak- 
ing no  disturbance,  but  that  his  preaching  in  England  and 
elsewhere  had  promoted  quietness.  As  to  the  charge  of 
necromancy,  he  could  endure  that,  seeing  that  his  Master 


362       THE   REFORMATION   IN   ENGLAND   AND   SCOTLAND. 

was  accused  of  being  "  possessed  with  Beelzebub."  Leav- 
ing Knox's  offensive  book,  Mary  reminded  him  that  God 
commands  subjects  to  obey  their  princes,  and  asked  him 
how  he  reconciled  his  conduct  in  persuading  the  people 
"  to  receive  another  religion  than  their  princes  can  allow," 
with  that  precept.  Knox  replied  that  subjects  are  not 
"  bound  to  frame  their  religion  according  to  the  appetite 
of  their  princes,"  and  appealed  to  the  example  of  the 
Israelites  in  Egypt,  and  to  the  example  of  Daniel,  on 
which  he  dilated  at  some  length.  "  Yea,"  said  she; 
"  none  of  them  raised  the  sword  against  their  princes." 
Knox  answered  that  still  they  denied  obedience  to  their 
mandates.  Mary  was  not  to  be  driven  from  her  point, 
and  replied  :  "  But  yet  they  resisted  not  by  the  sword." 
"  God,"  said  he,  "Madam,  had  not  given  them  the  power 
and  the  means."  "  Think  ye,"  said  she,  "  that  subjects 
having  power  may  resist  their  princes  ?  "  "If  their  princes 
exceed  their  bounds,"  said  he,  "  Madam,  and  do  against 
that  wherefore  they  should  be  obeyed,  it  is  no  doubt  but 
they  may  be  resisted,  even  by  power ;  "  and  he  compared 
this  resistance  to  the  restraint  imposed  by  children  upon  a 
frenzied  father.  "  At  these  words,  the  Queen  stood,  as  it 
were,  amazed,  more  than  a  quarter  of  an  hour  ;  her  coun- 
tenance altered,  so  that  Lord  James  began  to  entreat  her, 
and  to  demand,  '  What  has  offended  you,  Madam  ? '  At 
length  she  said,  4  Well,  then,  I  perceive  that  my  subjects 
shall  obey  you,  and  not  me  ;  and  shall  do  what  they  list, 
and  not  what  I  command  :  and  so  must  I  be  subject  to 
them,  and  not  they  to  me.'  "  Knox  demurred  to  this 
conclusion.  "  My  travail  is  that  both  princes  and  sub- 
jects obey  God."  Kings  and  queens  were  to  be  foster- 
fathers  and  nurses  to  the  Kirk.  Excited  by  the  debate, 
Mary  went,  perhaps,  further  than  she  had  designed. 
"  But  ye  are  not  the  Kirk  that  I  will  nurse.  I  will  defend 
the  Kirk  of  Rome,  for  it  is,  I  think,  the  true  Kirk  of 
God."      "  Your  will,"  said  he,  "  Madam,  is  no  reason , 


KNOX  AND  QUEEN  MARY.  363 

neither  doth  your  thought  make  that  Roman  harlot  to  be 
the  true  and  immaculate  spouse  of  Jesus  Christ.  And 
wonder  not,  Madam,  that  I  call  Rome  a  harlot  ;  for  that 
Kirk  is  altogether  polluted  with  all  kind  of  spiritual  for- 
nication, as  well  in  doctrine  as  in  manners."  He  offered 
to  prove  that  the  "  Kirk  of  the  Jews,"  when  it  crucified 
Jesus,  was  not  so  far  removed  from  true  religion  "  as  that 
Kirk  of  Rome  is  declined."  "  My  conscience,"  said 
Mary,  "  is  not  so."  Conscience,  he  answered,  requires 
knowledge  ;  and  he  proceeded  to  say  that  she  had  en- 
joyed no  true  teaching.  Descending  to  particulars,  he 
pronounced  the  mass  "  the  invention  of  man,"  and  there- 
fore "  an  abomination  before  God."  To  his  harangue, 
Mary  said  :  "  If  they  were  here  whom  I  have  heard,  they 
would  answer  you."  Knox  expressed  the  wish  that  the 
"  most  learned  Papist  in  Europe  "  were  present,  that  she 
might  learn  "  the  vanity  of  the  papistical  religion,"  and 
how  little  ground  it  had  in  the  Word  of  God.  Knox  de- 
parted, wishing  that  she  might  be  as  great  a  blessing  to 
Scotland  "  as  ever  Deborah  was  in  the  commonwealth  of 
Israel."  He  remarks  that  she  "  continued  in  her  massing  ; 
and  despised  and  quietly  mocked  all  exhortation."  Being 
asked  by  his  friends  at  the  time  what  he  thought  of  her, 
he  said  :  "  If  there  be  not  in  her  a  proud  mind,  a  crafty 
wit,  and  an  indurate  heart  against  God  and  his  truth,  my 
judgment  faileth  me."  In  Knox,  as  he  appears  in  these 
interviews,  one  may  behold  the  incarnation  of  the  demo- 
cratic spirit  of  Calvinism. 

On  another  occasion  he  was  summoned  to  the  presence 
of  the  Queen,  in  consequence  of  his  preaching  about  the 
dancing  at  Holyrood.  Knox  said  that  in  the  presence  of 
her  Council  she  was  grave,  but  "  how  soon  soever  the 
French  fillocks,  fiddlers,  and  others  of  that  band  gat  into 
the  house  alone,  then  might  be  seen  skipping  not  very 
comely  for  honest  women."  It  must  be  remarked  that 
the  dances  in  vogue  then  would  not  now  be  deemed  very 


364   THE  REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND  AND  SCOTLAND. 

comely,  even  by  liberal  critics.1  "  He  was  called  and 
accused,  as  one  that  had  irreverently  spoken  of  the  Queen, 
and  that  travailed  to  bring  her  into  hatred  and  contempt 
of  the  people."  "  The  Queen,"  he  says,  "  made  a  long 
harangue,"  to  which  he  replied  by  repeating  exactly  what 
he  had  said  in  the  pulpit.  In  the  course  of  the  conver- 
sation he  freely  expressed  his  opinion  of  her  uncles, 
whom  he  styled  "  enemies  to  God  and  unto  his  Son  Jesus 
Christ,"  and  declined  her  request  that  he  would  come  and 
make  what  criticisms  he  had  to  make  upon  her  conduct, 
to  her  personally.  He  could  not  wait  upon  individuals, 
but  it  was  his  function  "  to  rebuke  the  sins  and  vices  of 
all "  in  his  sermons,  which  he  invited  her  to  come  and 
hear.  He  was  too  shrewd  to  consent  to  be  silent  in  public 
for  the  sake  of  the  privilege  of  conversing  with  her  in 
private.  She  showed  her  displeasure.  But  "  the  said 
John  departed  with  a  reasonable  merry  countenance ; 
whereat  some  Papists,  offended,  said,  l  He  is  not  afraid  ; ' 
which  heard  of  him,  he  answered,  '  Why  should  the 
pleasing  face  of  a  gentlewoman  fear  me  ?  I  have  looked 
in  the  faces  of  many  angry  men,  and  yet  have  not  been 
afraid  above  measure.'  "   / 

The  mass  and  auricular  confession  were  not  wholly 
given  up,  especially  in  the  western  districts  south  of  the 
Clyde.  "  The  brethren,"  says  Knox,  "  determined  to 
put  to  their  own  hands,"  and  no  longer  wait  for  King  or 
Council,  but  "  execute  the  punishment  that  God  had  ap- 
pointed to  idolaters  in  his  law,  by  such  means  as  they 
might,  wherever  they  should  be  apprehended."  The 
brethren  had  begun  this  work  of  executing  the  law  for 
themselves,  when  the  Queen,  who  was  at  Lochleven,  sent 
for  Knox.  He  defended  the  proceeding.  Where  kings 
neglect  their  duty  of  executing  the  laws,  the  people  may 
do  it  for  them,  and  even  restrain  kings,  he  added,  in  case 
they  spare  the  wicked  and  oppress  the  innocent.     "  The 

1  Burton,  iv.  209. 


KNOX  AND  QUEEN  MARY.  365 

©samples,"  lie  said,  "  are  evident,  for  Samuel  feared  not 
to  slay  Agag,  the  fat  and  delieate  King  of  Amalek,  whom 
King  Saul  had  saved  :  neither  spared  Elias  Jezebel's  false 
prophets  and  Baal's  priests,  albeit  that  King  Ahab  was 
present.  Phineas  was  no  magistrate,  and  yet  feared  he 
not  to  strike  Cozbi  and  Zimri  "  —  and  he  specified  in  the 
plainest  words  the  sin  of  which  they  were  guilty.  He 
informed  Mary  that  she  must  fulfill  her  part  of  "  the 
mutual  contract,"  if  she  expected  to  get  obedience  from 
her  subjects.1  u  The  said  John  left  her,"  but,  much  to 
his  surprise,  early  the  next  morning,  she  sent  for  him 
again.  He  met  her  "  at  the  hawking,  by  West  Kincross. 
Whether  it  was  the  night's  sleep,  or  deep  dissimulation, 
that  made  her  to  forget  her  former  auger,  wise  men  may 
doubt."  She  conversed  with  him  in  a  familiar  and  confi- 
dential style,  asking  his  good  offices  to  restore  peace  be- 
tween the  Earl  of  Argyle  and  his  wife ;  and  wound  up 
the-  conference  by  alluding  to  the  interview  of  the  pre- 
vious night,  and  by  promising  "to  minister  justice"  as 
he  had  required.  Many  arrests  were  actually  made,  ap- 
parently in  pursuance  of  her  promise.  But  from  about 
this  time  (1563),  symptoms  of  a  Romish  reaction  were 
manifest.  The  Queen's  influence  began  to  have  its  effect. 
Knox  was  not  ignorant  of  her  communications  with 
France,  Spain,  and  the  Papal  Court  ;  for  ho  had  his  own 
correspondence  on  the  continent.2  From  this  time  Knox 
and  the  Queen  were  really  engaged  in  a  contest,  each  for 
the  extermination  of  the  other.3  When  it  was  known 
that  she  was  considering  the  question  of  a  marriage  with 
(she  Archduke  of  Austria,  or  with  Don  Carlos,  the  son  of 
Philip  II.,  and  when  Knox  found  the  Protestant  nobles 
lukewarm  or  indifferent  on  the  subject,  he  did  not  hesi- 
tate to  thunder  in  the  pulpit  against  the  scheme,  and  to 
predict  direful  consequences,  should  the  nobles  allow  it  to 
be  carried   out.     Exasperated  at  this  new  interference, 

1  History,  p.  285.  -  Burton,  iv.  210.  s  Ibid. 


366      THE   REFORMATION   IN  ENGLAND   AND   SCOTLAND. 

the  Queen  summoned  him  to  her  presence,  and  with  pas- 
sionate outbursts  of  weeping,  denounced  his  impertinent 
meddling  with  affairs  that  did  not  belong  to  him.  Knox 
maintained  his  imperturbable  coolness,  although  he  de- 
clared that  he  had  no  pleasure  in  seeing  her  weep,  since 
that  he  could  not,  without  pain,  see  the  tears  of  his  own 
boys  when  he  chastised  them.  Dismissed  from  the 
Queen's  presence,  he  was  detained  for  a  while  in  the  adja- 
cent room,  where  he  "  merrily  "  uttered  a  quaint  homily 
to  the  ladies  of  the  court  on  their  "  gay  gear  "  and  on  the 
havoc  that  death  would  make  with  their  flesh  and  all 
their  finery  ;  a  speech  in  a  tone  that  has  been  aptly 
likened  to  that  of  the  soliloquy  of  the  grave-digger  in 
Hamlet. 

In  the  summer  of  1563,  during  the  absence  of  the 
Queen  from  Edinburgh,  her  followers  who  were  left  be- 
hind, attempted  to  hold  mass  in  the  chapel  at  Holyrood. 
An  unusual  number  from  the  town  joined  them.  "  Divers 
of  the  brethren,  being  sore  offended,  consulted  how  to  re- 
dress that  enormity."  They  resorted  to  the  spot  in  order 
to  note  down  the  names  of  such  as  might  come  to  partici- 
pate in  the  unlawful  rite.  It  appears  that  the  chapel  door 
was  burst  open,  "  whereat,  the  priest  and  the  French 
dames,  being  affrayed,  made  the  shout  to  be  sent  to  the 
town."  Two  of  the  party  were  indicted  "  for  carrying 
pistols  within  the  burgh,  convention  of  lieges  at  the 
palace,  and  invasion  of  the  Queen's  servants."  Knox, 
who  had  been  clothed  with  authority  to  summon  the 
faithful  together  in  any  grave  emergency,  issued  a  circular 
calling  upon  them  to  be  in  Edinburgh  on  the  day  which 
had  been  designated  for  the  trial.  The  Queen  imagined 
that  she  had  now  caught  him  in  a  plain  violation  of  the 
law.  He  was  required  to  appear  before  her  and  the 
Privy  Council,  to  which  were  joined  a  considerable  num- 
ber of  government  officers  and  nobles.  He  gives  a 
graphic  description   of    the  scene  and  of    the  colloquies 


KNOX   AND   QUEEN   MARY.  367 

that  took  place.  He  states  also  that  ki  the  bruit  rising  in 
the  town  that  John  Knox  was  sent  for  by  the  Queen,  the 
brethren  of  the  Kirk  followed  in  such  number  that  the 
inner  close  was  full,  and  all  the  stairs,  even  to  the  cham- 
ber door  where  the  Queen  and  Council  sat."  This  gather- 
ing of  his  supporters  would,  of  itself,  disincline  the  Coun- 
cil to  molest  him  ;  but,  independently  of  the  immediate 
danger  attending  such  a  step,  the  Protestant  lords,  the 
subtle  and  unprincipled  Lethington,  for  example,  however 
they  might  charge  him  with  fanaticism,  were  not  at  all 
disposed  to  assume  a  position  of  hostility  towards  him. 
He  had  leave  to  depart,  but  did  not  go  until  he  had 
turned  to  the  Queen  and  prayed  that  "  God  would  purge 
her  heart  from  Popery  and  preserve  her  from  the  counsel 
of  flatterers."  It  is  a  mark  of  the  steadfast  honesty  of 
Knox  that  he  broke  off  intercourse,  for  a  long  time,  with 
Murray,  whom  he  honored  and  loved,  but  whom  he 
blamed,  in  conjunction  with  the  other  lords,  for  neglect- 
ing, in  the  Parliament  of  1563,  the  first  Parliament  after 
the  Queen's  arrival,  to  ratify  the  treaty  of  peace  made  in 
1560,  and  the.  establishment  of  the  Protestant  religion.1 
The  principal  business  done  at  that  session  was  to  give 
a  legal  security  to  the  appropriations  that  had  been  made 
of  the  church  lands,  by  which  the  nobles  had  so  much 
profited.  It  Avas  a  short  time  after  this  meeting  of  Par- 
liament that  Knox  preached  the  famous  sermon  to  which 
we  have  referred,  on  the  Queen's  marriage. 

The  gloomy  prospects  of  the  cause  of  reform  led  Knox 
to  adopt  a  form  of  public  prayer  for  the  Queen,  in  which 
the  Almighty  was  besought  to  "  deliver  her  from  the 
bondage  and  thraldom  of  Satan,"  and  thus  save  the  realm 
"  from  that  plague  and  vengeance  that  inevitably  follows 
idolatry,"  as  well  as  her  own  soul  from  "  that  eternal 
damnation  which  abides  all  obstinate  and  impenitent  unto 
the  end."     At  an  assembly  of  the  Kirk  in  the  summer  of 

1  McCrie,  p.  255. 


368      THE   REFORMATION   IN   ENGLAND   AND   SCOTLAND. 

I5G4,  the  propriety  of  this  prayer  came  up  for  discussion. 
At  this  meeting  the  lay  lords,  Murray,  Hamilton,  Argyle, 
Morton,  Lethington,  and  others,  entered  into  debate  with 
the  clerical  leaders  on  this  question  and  on  the  proper 
treatment  of  the  Queen.  But  Knox  and  his  associates 
asserted  that  the  mass  is  idolatry,  and,  by  Old  Testa- 
ment law  and  precedents,  must  be  punished  with  death. 
No  vote  was  taken  ;  but  it  was  soon  evident  to  the  lay 
leaders  that  there  was  no  room  for  a  middle  party, 
and  no  hope  that  the  Queen  would  abandon  her  "  idol- 
atry." 

It  is  obvious  that  Knox  and  his  followers  were  no  dis- 
ciples of  the  doctrine  of  toleration.  Two  things,  how- 
ever, deserve  to  be  noticed.  First,  there  was  no  kingdom 
where  Roman  Catholics  having  the  relative  strength  of 
the  Calvinists  of  Scotland  would  have  endured  for  a 
moment  a  Protestant  sovereign.  The  story  of  Henry 
IV.  of  France  shows  what  the  Catholic  party  demanded, 
even  when  there  was  a  powerful  minority  opposed  to 
them.  Secondly,  Knox  and  his  associates  were  well  con- 
vinced that  the  Queen,  notwithstanding  her  fair  profes- 
sions, only  waited  for  a  favorable  opportunity  to  extirpate 
them  and  to  bring  back  the  papal  system,  the  abolition 
of  which  she  did  not  concede  to  be  legal.  But,  apart 
from  these  considerations,  the  Roman  Catholic  rites,  in 
the  eyes  of  Knox,  were  idolatry  which  must  be  capitally 
punished  and  utterly  suppressed  ;  otherwise  the  judgments 
of  heaven  would  fall  on  the  land.  He  attributed,  the 
partial  failure  of  the  crops  to  the  wrath  of  God  at  the 
Queen's  mass. 

The  Protestants  had  a  feeling  of  insecuritv,  a  feeling 
that  their  cause  was  being  cautiously  undermined.  They 
Avatched  with  eager  attention  the  various  negotiations 
having  respect  to  the  Queen's  marriage.  Had  they  been 
fully  aware  of  the  efforts  that  were  made  to  effect  a  mar- 
riage between  Mary  and  Don  Carlos   of    Spain,   which 


THE   QUEEN'S    MARRIAGE    WITH   DARNLEY.  369 

were  defeated  by  the  machinations  of  Catharine  de 
Medici,  through  her  jealousy  of  the  house  of  Guise,  they 
would  have  been  filled  with  alarm  and  indignation.  The 
propositions  of  Elizabeth,  including  that  of  a  marriage 
of  Mary  to  Leicester,  fell  to  the  ground.  How  far  the 
English  Queen  was  sincere  in  them  it  is  impossible,  to 
say,  since  even  her  most  sagacious  advisers  could  nob 
fathom  her  duplicity.  One  obstacle  in  the  way  of  Eliza- 
beth's matrimonial  schemes  for  Mary  was  the  steady  re- 
fusal of  the  former  definitely  to  guarantee  the  succession 
to  her  sister  of  Scotland.  She  meant  to  retain  this  safe- 
guard for  her  life  in  her  own  hands.  All  plans  of  this  sort 
were  cut  off  by  Mary's  marriage  with  Darnley.  It  was  a 
case  of  mutual  love  at  first  sight.  Darnley  was  Mary's 
cousin,  and  the  grandson  of  Margaret,  the  sister  of  Henry 
VIII.,  and  of  the  Earl  of  Angus,  whom  she  married  after 
the  death  of  her  first  husband,  James  IV.  Mary  was 
charmed  with  his  personal  appearance  —  his  tall  form, 
the  breadth  of  his  shoulders,  and  his  smooth,  handsome 
face.  Darnley  was  a  Catholic.  Murray  and  the  Prot- 
estants opposed  the  marriage  as  a  decisive  step  towards 
the  restoration  of  the  old  religion.  They  complained  that 
the  laws  against  idolatry  were  not  enforced.  Mary  had 
taken  a  husband  without  consulting  her  Parliament,  which 
if  not  illegal,  was  indecorous  ;  and  she  had  proclaimed 
him  as  King  of  Scots,  which  was  considered  an  unconsti- 
tutional act.1  The  Queen  had  married  against  the  remon- 
strance of  Elizabeth  and  had  incurred  her  displeasure. 
The  hopes  of  Mary  centered  in  the  King  of  Spain  and  her 
other  friends  on  the  continent.  The  discontented  barons, 
with  Murray  at  their  head,  took  up  arms,  but  not  receiv- 
ing the  promised  aid  from  England,  their  forces  were  dis- 
persed, and  the  leaders  were  compelled  to  fly  across  the 
border.  Just  at  this  juncture,  it  was  apprehended  that 
France  and  Spain  would  join  hands  in  a  common  attack 

i  Burton,  iv.  279. 
24 


370   THE  REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND  AND  SCOTLAND. 

upon  Protestantism.1  It  was  supposed,  though  errone- 
ously, that  Catharine  de  Medici  and  her  son  had  signed  a 
league  at  Bayonne,  at  the  instigation  of  Alva,  for  this 
end.  It  was  believed,  also,  that  Mary  had  formally  at- 
tached her  signature  to  the  same  bond.  The  political  sit- 
uation was  so  perilous  for  England  and  English  Protes- 
tantism that  Elizabeth  was  led  falsely  to  disavow  all  con- 
nection with  Murray  and  his  enterprise.  Had  Darnley 
been  an  able  man,  and  had  his  Queen  been  possessed  of  a 
wisdom  and  self-control  equal  to  her  acuteness  and  vivac- 
ity, the  subsequent  history  of  Scotland,  and  of  England 
too,  would  have  been  essentially  altered.  But  it  took  but 
a  short  time  for  the  incompatibility  between  Mary  and 
Darnley  to  manifest  itself.  Elated  by  his  elevation,  he  of- 
fended the  nobles  by  his  insolence  and  airs  of  superiority. 
His  drunkenness  and  other  low  vices  soon  disgusted,  and  at 
length  completely  alienated  his  wife.  Mary  was  impru- 
dent enough  to  bestow  so  many  marks  of  favor  on  Rizzio, 
an  Italian  whom  she  had  made  her  Secretary,  that  he  be- 
came an  object  of  bitter  hatred  to  the  nobility.  They  de- 
spised him  as  an  upstart  and  an  adventurer  who  had 
usurped  that  place  in  the  counsels  and  good  graces  of  the 
Queen  which  belonged  to  themselves.  Rizzio  had  pro- 
moted the  marriage  with  Darnley.  He  was  considered 
one  of  the  props  of  the  Roman  Catholic  faction.  Parlia- 
ment was  about  to  assemble,  "  the  spiritual  estate,"  to 
quote  from  a  letter  of  Mary  herself,  "  being  placed  there 
in  the  ancient  manner,  tending  to  have  done  some  good 
anent  restoring  the  auld  religion,  and  to  have  proceeded 
against  our  rebels  according  to  their  demerits."  2  The 
estates  of  Murray  and  his  confederates  were  to  be  for- 
feited. On  the  9th  of  March,  1566,  Rizzio  was  mur- 
dered as  the  result  of  a  plot  of  which  Darnley  on  the  one 

1  Mary  had  applied  to  the  King  of  Spain  for  help  against  her  subjects.     Hos- 
ack,  Mary  and  her  Accusers,  i.  114. 

2  Letter  of  Mary  to  her  Councillor,  the  Bishop  of  Ross,  in  Labanoff,  i.  342. 
See  Burton,  iv.  304. 


THE  MURDER   OF  RIZZIO.  371 

part,  who  was  moved  by  jealousy  of  Rizzio,  and  Ruthven 
and  other  Protestant  lords  on  the  other,  who  were  enraged 
at  the  influence  acquired  by  Rizzio,  were  the  authors  and 
executors.  Darnley  was  angry  that  the  crown  matri- 
monial was  withheld  from  him.  It  was  stipulated  in  a 
secret  agreement  of  Darnley  with  the  lords  that  the  ban- 
ished nobles  should  be  restored  and  the  Protestant  religion 
maintained.  Rizzio  was  dragged  out  of  the  apartment 
in  which  the  Queen  was  supping,  and  slain  in  the  adja- 
cent room.  It  was  only  three  months  before  the  birth 
of  the  Queen's  son,  afterwards  James  VI.,  whose  life,  as 
well  as  the  life  of  his  mother,  were  exposed  to  immi- 
nent peril  by  this  scene  of  brutal  violence.  The  Queen's 
power  of  dissembling  now  served  her  well.  She  won  the 
feeble  Darnley  to  a  cooperation  with  her  scheme,  and  es- 
caping on  Monday,  at  midnight,  from  Holyrood  —  the 
murder  of  Rizzio  was  on  Saturday  evening  —  she  rode  for 
five  hours  on  horseback,  and  reached  the  strong  fortress 
of  Dunbar  at  daylight.  The  banished  lords  had  appeared 
in  Edinburgh  on  Sunday,  the  day  after  the  murder.  The 
new  turn  that  was  given  to  affairs  by  the  Queen's  bold 
and  succcesful  movement  obliged  Morton,  and  the  other 
lords  who  had  been  directly  participant  in  the  destruction 
of  Rizzio,  to  take  refuge  for  a  while  in  England.  The 
others,  including  Murray,  were  received  into  favor.  From 
this  time,  as  we  follow  this  tragic  history,  we  tread  at 
almost  every  step  upon  disputed  ground.  Around  these 
transactions  there  have  gathered  the  conflicting  sympa- 
thies of  religious  parties,  not  to  speak  of  the  personal  feel- 
ings which  cluster  about  events  of  pathetic  interest,  events 
which  have  been  selected  by  great  poets  as  an  appropriate 
theme  for  the  drama.  But  there  are  some  leading  facts 
that  are  fully  ascertained,  and  whether  they  are  in  every 
case  admitted  or  not,  they  cannot  plausibly  be  disputed. 
One  of  these  facts  is  the  complete  estrangement  of  the 
Queen  from  Darnley.     He  had  been  mean  and  treacher- 


372      THE  REFORMATION   IN   ENGLAND  AND   SCOTLAND. 

ous  enough  to  appear  before  the  council  and  solemnly  to 
affirm,  what  everybody  knew  to  be  false,  that  he  had  had 
no  concern  in  the  slaying  of  Rizzio.  He  incurred  the 
vindictive  hatred  of  all  who  had  been  his  confederates  in 
the  commission  of  that  act.  But  Mary  took  no  pains  to 
conceal,  she  rather  took  pains  to  manifest  publicly,  her 
thorough  dislike  and  contempt  for  him.  He  was  despised 
and  shunned  by  all.  The  birth  of  his  son,  afterwards 
James  VI.  of  Scotland  and  James  I.  of  England,  which 
took  place  in  Edinburgh  Castle,  on  the  19th  of  June, 
1566,  did  not  affect  the  relations  of  his  parents  to  one 
another.  The  repugnance  with  which  Mary  regarded 
Darnley  was  known  to  everybody,  and  was  reported  to 
foreign  courts.  Another  fact  is  her  growing  fondness  for 
Both  well,  which  was,  also,  a  matter  of  common  observa- 
tion, and  was  manifested  by  unmistakable  signs.  Both- 
well  was  a  brave,  adventurous,  resolute  man,  with  some 
exterior  polish  acquired  at  the  court  of  France,  but  un- 
scrupulous and  unprincipled.  Though  connected  with 
the  Protestant  side,  he  had  stood  faithfully  by  the  Queen 
Regent,  Mary's  mother,  and  by  Mary  herself.  He  had 
taken  no  part  in  the  murder  of  Rizzio,  but  on  that  occa- 
sion had  himself  escaped  from  Holyrood,  and  had  lent 
her  timely  and  effective  assistance.  Although  the  fact 
is  still  questioned  by  Mary's  enthusiastic  defenders,  it  is 
nevertheless  established  that  her  attachment  to  him  grew 
into  an  overpowering  passion.1  Bothwell  had  a  wife  to 
whom  he  had  not  long  been  married  ;  Mary  had  a  hus- 
band. Such  were  the  hindrances  in  the  way  of  their 
union.  It  was  affirmed  subsequently  by  Argyle  and 
Huntley  that  they,  together  with  Bothwell,  Murray,  and 
Lethington,  used  the  disaffection  of  the  Queen  towards  her 
husband  as  a  means  of  obtaining  her  consent  to  the  par- 
don and  return  of  Morton  and  others,  who  were  in  banish- 
ment on  account  of  their  agency  in  the  death  of  Rizzio. 

1  Burton,  iv.  324  seq. 


THE  MURDER  OF  DARNLEY.  373 

They  began  by  proposing  to  her  a  divorce,  but  "  the  one 
thing  clear  is  that  a  promise  was  made  to  rid  the  Queen  of 
her  unendurable  husband,  and  that  without  a  divorce."  J 
Morton  was  allowed  to  return,  but  refused  to  take  an  active 
part  in  the  plot,  unless  he  were  furnished  with  a  written 
authorization  from  Mary,  which  could  not  be  procured.2 
Murray  claimed  with  truth  that  he  never  entered  into  an 
engagement  for  the  murder  of  Darnley ;  but  Lethington, 
according  to  the  statement  of  Argyle  and  Huntley,  had 
said  that  Murray  would  "  look  through  his  fingers  "  — 
that  is,  stand  off  and  not  interfere.  Whether  Murray  was 
aware  of  the  plot,  and  was  willing  to  have  it  succeed  by 
other  hands  than  his  own,  is  a  question  which  cannot  be 
determined.  The  Queen,  just  before,  gave  a  striking 
proof  of  her  affection  for  Bothwell  by  paying  him  a  visit 
when  he  was  ill,  at  the  peril  of  her  own  life.  Darnley 
had  been  taken  ill  and  went  to  Glasgow,  where  he  was 
cared  for  under  the  direction  of  his  father,  the  old  Earl  of 
Lennox.  The  Queen  announced  her  purpose  to  visit 
him.  She  made  the  visit,  and  after  they  met,  a  conver- 
sation occurred  between  Darnley  and  Crawford,  a  gentle- 
man in  the  service  of  Lennox,  whom  the  latter  had  in- 
structed to  observe  and  report  whatever  he  saw  and  heard. 
The  Queen  had  arranged  with  Darnley  that  he  should 
be  taken  to  Craigmillar  Castle  and  there  receive  medical 
treatment.  Both  Crawford  and  Darnley  expressed  to 
one  another  their  dislike  of  this  arrangement,  in  such 
terms  as  imply  a  suspicion  that  evil,  even  murder,  might 
possibly  be  intended.  Darnley  expressed  to  Mary  his 
penitence,  and  his  ardent  desire  for  the  restoration  of  the 
old  relations  between  them.  She  met  his  advances  ap- 
parently in  a  friendly  spirit,  and  gave  him  fair  promises. 
A  few  days  later  he  was  removed  to  Edinburgh,  but  in- 

1  See  Burton,  iv.  332  seq. 

2  Morton,  in  the  confession  that  lie  made  before  his  execution,  owned  that  he 
was  ur^ed  by  Bothwell  to  join  in  the  plot,  and  said,  as  a  reason  for  not  reveal- 
ing it  to  the  Queen :   "  She  was  the  doer  thereof." 


374   THE  REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND  AND  SCOTLAND. 

stead  of  being  taken  to  Craigmillar,  or  to  Holyrood,  he 
was  conveyed  to  a  place  close  to  the  city  wall,  called  the 
Kirk-of-field,  to  an  uninhabited  house  that  belonged  to 
Robert  Balfour,  a  dependant  of  Bothwell,  several  rooms 
of  which  had  been  fitted  up  for  the  King's  reception.  The 
Queen  slept  several  nights  in  the  room  under  Darnley's 
apartment ;  but  on  Sunday  evening,  the  9th  of  February, 
1567,  she  left  his  bedside  to  attend  the  festivities  con- 
nected with  the  wedding  of  one  of  her  servants  at  Holy- 
rood.  That  night  the  house  was  blown  up  with  gunpowder, 
which  Bothwell  and  his  followers  had  placed  in  the 
Queen's  bedroom,  under  Darnley.  His  body  was  found 
at  some  distance  from  the  house.  Whether  he  was  stran- 
gled, or  otherwise  killed,  before  the  explosion  or  not,  is 
still  a  controverted  point.  The  conspirators  had  provided 
themselves  with  false  keys  and  had  deliberately  perfected 
all  their  arrangements.  Whether  or  not  the  Queen  was 
privy  to  the  murder,  her  conduct  afterwards  was  suffi- 
ciently imprudent  to  confirm  the  worst  suspicions.  Both- 
well,  who  was  known  to  be  the  principal  criminal,  was 
shielded  by  a  trial  so  conducted  as  to  be  nothing  short  of 
a  mockery  of  justice.1  Instead  of  experiencing  her  dis- 
pleasure, he  rose  still  higher  in  her  favor,  and  was  honored 
with  an  accumulation  of  offices  which  rendered  him  the 
most  powerful  man  in  the  kingdom.  The  next  great 
event  is  the  abduction  of  the  Queen  by  Bothwell,  who, 
at  the  head  of  a  body  of  retainers,  stopped  her  on  her 
way,  and  without  any  resistance  on  her  part,  conducted 
her  to  Stirling  Castle.  Previously,  at  a  supper  which  he 
gave  in  Edinburgh,  possibly  through  the  fear  that  he  in- 
spired, he  had  prevailed  on  most  of  the  first  men  of  Scot- 
land to  sign  a  paper  recommending  the  Queen  to  marry 
him.  In  Mary's  own  account  of  her  capture  and  of  the 
occurrences    at   Stirling,   she  represents   that   force   was 

1  Melville  says  that  everybody  suspected  Bothwell  pf  the  murder.     Memoirs, 
p.  78. 


MARY   A   PRISONER.  375 

used,  but  merely  to  such  a  degree,  and  accompanied  with 
such  protestations  of  love  —  which  had  the  more  effect 
from  her  sense  of  the  great  services  he  had  rendered  her 
—  that  she  could  only  forgive  her  suitor  for  this  excess 
and  impatience  of  affection.  Sir  James  Melville,  her 
faithful  friend,  who  had  warned  her,  at  the  risk  of  his 
life,  against  marrying  Bothwell,  was  with  her  when  she 
was  stopped  by  him  ;  and  he  dryly  remarks  that  Cap- 
tain Blackader,  who  captured  him,  told  him  "  that  it  was 
with  the  Queen's  own  consent. " 1  Spottiswoode,  who  wrote 
his  history  at  the  request  of  James  I.,  her  son,  says  that 
"  No  men  doubted  but  this  was  done  by  her  own  liking 
and  consent." 2  Bothwell  was  divorced  from  his  wife, 
and  the  public  wedding  that  united  him  to  the  Queen 
followed.  He  now  governed  with  a  high  hand.  Mary 
herself,  to  her  own  cost,  soon  became  more  fully  ac- 
quainted with  his  coarse  and  despotic  nature,  and  was 
an  unhappy  wife.  Meantime  the  principal  barons  were 
combining  and  preparing  to  crush  Bothwell,  and  they 
entered  into  communication  with  Elizabeth,  from  whom 
they  sought  assistance.  At  Carberry  Hill  the  forces  of 
Bothwell  and  the  army  collected  by  the  lords  were  ar- 
rayed against  each  other.  But  a  battle  was  avoided  by 
the  surrender  of  Mary,  after  a  long  parley  and  in  pursu- 
ance of  an  arrangement  which  permitted  the  escape  of 
Bothwell.  She  was  led  to  Edinburgh,  and  treated  with 
great  personal  indignity,  especially  by  the  people,  who 
generally  believed  in  her  criminality.  From  there  she 
was  taken  as  a  prisoner  to  Lochleven.  The  lords  had  in- 
tercepted a  letter,  as  they  asserted,  from  Mary  to  Both- 
well,  which  showed  that  her  passion  for  him  had  not 
abated.  Sir  James  Melville,  speaking  of  a  letter  to  the 
Queen  from  the  Laird  of  Grange,  written  at  this  time, 
says :  "  It  contained  many  other  loving  and  humble  ad- 

1  Memoirs,  p.  158. 

2  History  of  the  Church  of  Scotland  (Edinb.  ed.,  1851),  ii.  51. 


376      THE  REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND   AND   SCOTLAND. 

monitions,  which  made  her  bitterly  to  weep,/o?*  she  could 
not  do  that  so  hastily  which  process  of  time  might  have 
accomplished"  that  is,  "put  him  [Both  well]  clean  out  of 
mind." 1  This  is  one  among  the  abundant  proofs  that 
whatever  constraint  had  been  put  upon  her  movements 
by  Both  well,  the  chain  that  bound  her  to  him  was  the 
infatuation  of  her  own  heart. 

The  statements  in  the  foregoing  sketch  rest  upon  evi- 
dence which  is  independent  of  the  famous  "  casket  let- 
ters "  —  the  letters  and  love-sonnets  addressed  by  Mary 
to  Bothwell,  together  with  contracts  of  marriage  between 
them,  which,  it  was  alleged,  were  found  in  a  silver  casket, 
that  Bothwell,  after  his  flight,  vainly  endeavored  to  pro- 
cure from  the  Castle  of  Edinburgh.  If  the  casket  letters 
are  genuine,  they  prove  incontestably  that  in  the  murder 
of  Darnley,  Mary  was  an  accomplice  before  the  act. 
The  genuineness  of  them  has  been  more  or  less  elab- 
orately discussed,  and  has  been  maintained  by  the  most 
eminent  historians,  as  Hume,  Robertson,  Laing,  Burton, 
Mackintosh,  Mignet,  Ranke.  Their  genuineness  has  been 
defended  lately  by  Mr.  Froude,  in  his  "  History  of 
Erigland."  The  most  acute  of  the  writers  on  the 
other  side  is  Mr.  Hosack,  the  author  of  a  recent  work 
upon  Mary  and  her  accusers.2  No  candid  critic  can  deny, 
whatever  may  be  his  final  verdict,  that  the  letters  contain 
many  internal  marks  of  genuineness  which  it  would  be 
exceedingly  difficult  for  a  counterfeiter  to  invent,  and  that 
the  scrutiny  to  which  they  were  subjected  in  the  Scottish 
Privy  Council,  the  Scottish  Parliament,  and  the  English 
Privy  Council  was  such  that,  if  they  were  forged,  it  is 
hard  to  account  for  the  failure  to  detect  the  imposture. 
Moreover,  the  character  of  Murray,  although  it  may  be 
admitted  that  he  was  not  the  immaculate  person  that  he  is 
sometimes  considered  to  have  been,  must  have  been  black 

1  Memoirs,  p.  168. 

2  Mary  Queen  of  Scots  and  her  Accusers.     By  John  Hosack,  Barrister  at  Law. 
2d  edition.    2  vols.     London,  1870. 


THE   CASKET    LETTERS.  377 

indeed  if  these  documents,  which  he  brought  forward  to 
prove  the  guilt  of  his  sister,  were  forged.  But  Murray  is 
praised  not  only  by  his  personal  adherents  and  by  his  party, 
but  by  men  like  Spottiswoode  and  Melville.1  Kanke,  who 
considers  the  letters  to  be  genuine,  though  somewhat  al- 
tered in  passing  through  the  various  translations,  still 
hesitates  to  pronounce  a  decision  in  regard  to  the  Queen's 
foreknowledge  of  the  murder.  Another  interpretation  of 
the  matter  was  broached  —  that  Mary  was  actually  be- 
coming drawn  to  her  penitent  husband,  that  their  recon- 
ciliation was  sincere  ;  and  that  Both  well,  seeing  the  danger 
that  his  prize  would  slip  from  his  grasp,  hastened  the 
consummation  of  his  plot.  Ranke  observes  that  the  so- 
lution of  the  problem  belongs  to  the  poet  who  can  open 
up  the  depths  of  the  heart,  those  abysses  in  which  the 
storms  of  passion  rage,  and  actions  are  born  which 
bid  defiance  to  law  and  to  morality,  and  yet  have 
deep  roots  in  the  human  soul.2  It  does  not  appear, 
however,  in  what  way  it  is  possible  to  reconcile  the 
genuineness  of  the  casket  letters,  as  Ranke  affirms  it, 
with  any  other  supposition  than  Mary's  complicity  in 
the  plot  in  which  Both  well  was  the  chief  actor.  There 
is  decisive  proof  that  they  have  not  been  materially  in- 
terpolated.3 

i  "  A  man  truly  good,  and  worthy  to  be  ranked  amongst  the  best  governors 
that  this  kingdom  hath  enjoyed,  and,  therefore,  to  this  day  honored  with  the 
title  of  'the  good  Regent.'  "—Spottiswoode,  History  of  the  Church  of  Scotland, 
ii.  121. 

2  Englische  Gsch.,  i.  2G7.  Of  the  abduction  of  Mary,  Ranke  says:  "Halb 
freiwillig,  halb  gezwungen,  gerieth  sie  in  seine  Gewalt,  und  dadurch  in  die 
Nothwendigkeit,  ihm  ihre  Hand  zu  geben  "  (p.  2G9). 

3  Burton,  v.  181.  As  to  the  vexed  questions  of  the  guilt  or  innocence  of  Mary, 
and  of  the  genuineness  of  the  casket  documents,  questions  that  still  interest 
the  minds  of  men,  notwithstanding  Mr.  Herbert  Spencer's  judgment  upon 
the  frivolity  of  the  whole  inquiry,  the  recent  works  of  Burton  on  the  one  side, 
and  of  Hosack  on  the  other,  fortunately  present  the  case  so  adequately  that 
every  reader  can  form  a  conclusion  for  himself.  Lawson's  edition  of  Bishop 
Keith's  History  of  the  Affairs  of  Church  and  State  in  Scotland  (printed  for  the 
Spottiswoode  Soc,  1815),  a  work  favorable  to  Mary,  presents  in  the  editor's 
copious  notes  a  large  amount  of  valuable  material.     Buchanan,  in  his  History, 


378      THE  REFORMATION  IN   ENGLAND   AND   SCOTLAND. 

At  Lochleven,  Mary  signed  two  documents,  the  one 
abdicating  the  throne,  the  other  appointing  Murray  Re- 
gent during  the  minority  of  her  child.  From  this  date, 
in  public  records,  the  reign  of  James  VI.  commences. 
The  infant  King  was  crowned  at  Stirling,  on  the  29th  of 
July,  1567. 

In  December,  a  Parliament  assembled,  which  confirmed 
the  Acts  of  1560  for  the  establishment  of  Protestantism. 
From  this  time  the  new  Kirk  was  able  to  set  on  foot  a 
more  efficient  discipline  than  had  been  possible  before. 
One  sign  of  the  change  was  the  ecclesiastical  censure  to 
which  all  publications  were  subjected.  In  the  constitu- 
tion and  government  of  the  Scottish  Church,  the  lay 
eldership  has  a  prominent  place.  In  1578,  the  "  Second 
Book  of  Discipline  "  embodied  the  complete  Presbyterian 
hierarchy,  ascending  from  the  parish  sessions  through  the 
presbyteries  and  provincial  synods  up  to  the  General  As- 
sembly, which  was  supreme.  Superintendents  were  re- 
tained, whose  function  it  was  to  carry  out  the  measures 
of  the  Assembly.     At  Frankfort,  Knox  had  composed  a 

but  especially  in  his  Detection  of  the  Actions  of  Mary  Queen  of  Scots,  which 
was  written  under  the  auspices  of  Murray,  made  a  rhetorical,  yet  powerful  and 
effective  attack,  which  reflects  the  popular  feeling,  adverse  to  Mary,  that  ex- 
isted at  the  time  in  Scotland.  Lesly's  Defence  of  the  Honor  of  Mary,  by  one 
of  her  zealous  adherents,  was  a  plea  on  the  other  side.  He  was  followed  by 
other  advocates  of  Mary  on  the  continent.  DeThou,  the  great  French  historian, 
believed  with  Buchanan,  and  could  not  be  induced  by  James  I.  to  retract  his 
verdict  against  the  King's  mother.  Camden,  the  English  historian  of  the 
seventeenth  century,  maintained  her  innocence.  Anderson  and  others  pub- 
lished the  documents.  Keith  and  Goodall  wrote  in  favor  of  Mary.  Tytler, 
Whitaker,  and  Chalmers,  argued  on  the  same  side.  Robertson  appended  to  the 
third  volume  of  his  History  of  Scotland  a  carefully  studied  Dissertation  on 
Kin;/  Henry's  Murder,  to  which  he  considers  that  Mary  was  privy;  and  Hume 
maintained  the  same  view  in  his  fourth  volume,  in  the  text  and  in  an  elaborate 
note.  Both  contend  for  the  genuineness  of  the  casket  documents.  Gilbert 
Stuart  replied  to  Robertson.  An  extensive  discussion,  in  agreement  with  the 
views  of  Hume  and  Robertson,  fills  the  first  volume  of  Malcolm  Laing's  His- 
tory  of  Scotland.  Prince  Alexander  Labanoff  published,  in  18-44,  a  collection, 
in  seven  volumes,  of  Queen  Mary's  Letters.  Mr.  Froude's  condemnation  of 
Mary  has  lately  revived  the  controversy.  Mary  Queen  of  Scots  and  her  latest 
English  Histoiian,  by  James  F.  Meline  (New  York,  1872),  is  a  polemical  work 
against  Froude. 


POLITY   AND    WORSHIP    OF    THE   SCOTTISH   KIRK.        379 

book  of  devotion  for  public  worship,  which  he  used  in  his 
church  at  Geneva  :  "  The  Forme  of  Prayers  and  Minis- 
tration of  the  Sacraments,  &c,  used  in  the  English  Con- 
gregation at  Geneva,  and  approved  by  the  famous  and 
godly  learned  man,  John  Calvin."  This,  with  a  few 
changes,  became  the  "  Book  of  Common  Order  "  for  the 
Scottish  Church.  It  contains  no  form  of  absolution.  It 
includes  a  Confession  of  Faith,  which  differs  from  that 
which  Parliament  and  the  General  Assembly  adopted. 
This  new  Confession  is  derived  from  Calvin's  Catechism, 
relating  to  the  Apostle's  Creed.  The  doctrine  of  the 
Sacrament  is  identical  with  that  of  Calvin,  as  distin- 
guished from  the  Lutheran  and  the  earlier  Zwinglian 
theory.  There  was  a  general  form  of  expulsion  of  un- 
worthy persons  from  the  Lord's  table,  in  connection  with 
the  ministration  of  the  Sacrament.  This  was  called 
excommunication  or  "  fencing  of  the  tables."  Marriages, 
as  well  as  baptisms,  were  celebrated  in  church  and  on 
Sundays.  This  "  Book  of  Common  Order"  continued  in 
use  for  about  a  hundred  years,  when  it  was  dropped,  in 
connection  with  the  contest  against  the  English  Prayer 
Book.  After  the  Presbyterian  system  had  been  estab- 
lished by  the  Assembly,  the  old  polity  of  the  Church  re- 
mained as  a  matter  of  law.  There  were  bishops,  and  also 
abbots  and  priors  ;  these  places  being  filled,  after  1560, 
by  Protestants,  and  sometimes  by  laymen.  In  1572,  it 
was  agreed  between  the  ecclesiastical  and  civil  authorities 
that  the  old  names  and  titles  of  archbishops  and  bishops 
should  continue,  although  the  incumbents  were  to  have 
no  power  greater  than  that  of  superintendents,  and  were 
to  be  subject  to  the  Kirk  and  General  Assembly  in  spirit- 
ual things  as  they  were  to  the  King  in  things  temporal. 
The  temporalities  of  the  sees  had  mostly  flowed  into  the 
hands  of  laymen.  This  was  what  Knox  condemned  ;  the 
revival  of  episcopacy,  in  the  shadowy  form  just  described, 
appears  to  have  excited  in  him  little  or  no  opposition.1 

1  Compare  McCrie,  p.  326  seq.,  with  Burton,  v.  318.    The  documents  may 


380   THE  REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND  AND  SCOTLAND. 

After  about  twenty  years,  the  Presbyterian  system,  pure 
and  simple,  was  established,  under  the  auspices  of  Andrew 
Melville.  Subsequently,  the  attempts  of  James  VI.  to 
establish  the  royal  supremacy,  and  to  introduce  not  only 
the  Anglican  polity,  but  the  Anglican  ritual,  also,  began 
that  contest  between  the  Throne  and  the  Kirk,  which  sig- 
nalized the  next  reign,  and  brought  Charles  I.  to  the 
scaffold.1 

The  Queen  of  England  professed,  and  probably  with 
sincerity,  her  high  indignation  at  the  treatment  of  Mary 
by  her  subjects.  It  was  a  flagrant  disregard  of  Eliza- 
beth's great  political  maxim  u  that  the  head  should  not 
be  subject  to  the  foot."  But  in  Murray  she  had  a  per- 
spicacious and  firm  man  to  deal  with.  It  was  evident  to 
the  counsellors  of  Elizabeth  and  to  Elizabeth  herself,  that 
if  she  interposed  to  put  down  the  Protestant  lords,  who 
had  imprisoned  Mary  and  compelled  her  abdication,  they 
would  make  common  cause  with  France,  and  her  own 
throne  would  be  shaken.  This  conclusion,  however,  was 
not  reached  at  once.  Mary  escaped  from  Lochleven  on 
the  2d  of  May,  1568,  and  an  army  quickly  rallied  to  her 
standard.  It  was  then  the  wish  of  Elizabeth  and  her 
Cabinet  to  restore  her  to  her  throne,  without  any  inter- 
vention of  the  French,  and  under  such  circumstances  as 
would  effectually  secure  the  safety  of  England  and  the 

be  found  in  Calderwood,  History  of  the  Kirk  of  Scotland  (Wodrow  Society),  iii. 
170  seq.  See  also  Principal  Lee,  History  of  the  Church  of  Scotland,  i.  306,  ii. 
1  seq. 

1  The  last  days  of  Knox  were  not  free  from  peril  and  conflict.  When  the 
Queen's  party  obtained  the  ascendency  (in  1571)  in  Edinburgh,  he  retired  to  St. 
Andrews.  , lames  Melville,  afterwards  a  minister,  then  a  student  in  the  college, 
has  left  a  very  interesting  description  of  him,  a  decrepit  old  man,  with  marten 
fur  about  his  neck,  with  a  staff  in  hand,  and  helped  along  the  street  by  his 
faithful  servant,  Richard  Bannatyne,  "and  by  the  said  Richard  and  another 
servant  lifted  up  to  the  pulpit,  where  he  behovit  to  lean  at  his  first  entry,  but 
ere  he  had  done  with  his  sermon,  he  was  so  active  and  vigorous,  that  he  was 
likely  to  ding  the  pulpit  in  blads  and  fly  out  of  it."  (McCrie,  p.  330.)  Ban- 
natyne  wrote  interesting  .!/<  moriah  of  Knox.  Knox  died  on  the  24th  of  No- 
vember, 1572.  Morton  said,  over  his  grave,  "  that  he  neither  feared  nor  flat- 
tered any  flesh."     (Burton,  v.  327.) 


CONFLICT  OF  ENGLAND  AND  SPAIN.        381 

ascendency  of  Elizabeth  in  her  counsels.  But  Mary's 
army  was  defeated  at  Langside,  when  she  was  attempt- 
ing to  march  to  Dumbarton  Castle,  and  she  escaped  by  a 
precipitate  flight  into  England,  where  she  threw  herself 
on  the  protection  of  Elizabeth.  The  ardent  and  perse- 
vering solicitations  of  Mary  for  an  interview  with  the 
English  Queen  were  put  off  until  she  should  be  cleared 
of  the  crime  that  was  imputed  to  her.  Murray  and  his 
associates  were  called  upon  to  justify  their  proceedings, 
and  brought  forward  the  "  casket  documents,"  to  substan- 
tiate their  charges. 

Elizabeth  might  dislike  the  religious  system  of  the  vic- 
torious party  in  Scotland  and  abhor  their  political  max- 
ims ;  but  they  were,  in  the  existing  situation  of  Europe, 
her  allies,  and  to  put  Mary  back  upon  her  throne  would 
have  been  an  act  of  suicide.  It  must  be  remembered  that 
she  never  renounced  her  claim  to  the  crown  of  England. 
At  this  juncture,  it  was  fortunate  that  the  slow  and  cau- 
tious Philip  declined  the  offensive  alliance  that  was  of- 
fered him  by  France.  In  1569,  the  victory  over  the  Hu- 
guenots in  France  was  followed  by  a  Catholic  rebellion 
in  the  North  of  England.  The  demand  was  that  Mary's 
title  to  the  succession  should  be  acknowledged.  The  ex- 
communication of  Elizabeth  by  Pius  V.  succeeded. 
Thenceforward,  all  who  sympathized  with  the  spirit  of  the 
Catholic  reaction  in  Europe,  and  acknowledged  the  Pope's 
authority,  were  under  the  strongest  temptation  to  treat 
Elizabeth  as  a  usurper  who  ought  to  be  actually  dethroned. 
The  rebellion,  under  the  lead  of  Norfolk,  was  undertaken 
with  the  express  and  warm  approbation  of  the  Pope,  and 
Philip  was  only  deterred  by  prudential  motives  from 
sending  his  forces  in  aid  of  it ;  he  preferred  to  wait  until 
the  insurgents  should  have  seized  on  the  person  of  the 
Queen.  The  current  of  events  was  gradually  leading  to 
an  open  conflict  with  Spain,  which  both  the  Queen  and 
Philip  were  reluctant  to  begin.      For  her  own  security 


382      THE   REFORMATION   IN  ENGLAND  AND   SCOTLAND. 

she  secretly  provided  assistance  to  the  revolted  subjects 
of  Philip  in  the  Netherlands,  which  pleased  France,  as 
her  aid  to  the  Scottish  rebels  had  gratified  Philip.  The 
consequence  was  that  favorable  terms  were  granted  to  the 
Netherlands  in  the  Pacification  of  Ghent,  in  1576.  It 
was  material  to  her  interests  that  the  Huguenots  should 
not  be  subdued,  and  she  covertly  gave  them  help  while 
she  was  in  friendly  relations  with  the  French  government 
that  was  seeking  to  crush  them.  At  length  the  desperate 
condition  of  the  Protestants  in  the  Netherlands  imposed 
on  her  the  necessity,  in  1585,  of  openly  sending  her 
troops,  under  the  command  of  Leicester,  for  their  deliver- 
ance. Shortly  after,  Drake  appeared  before  St.  Domingo 
and  took  possession  of  that  island. 

Mary  Stuart  was  the  centre  of  the  hopes  of  the  ene- 
mies of  Protestant  England  and  of  Elizabeth.  Their 
plots  looked  to  the  elevation  of  Mary  to  the  throne  which 
Elizabeth  filled.  Political  ambition  and  relisnous  fanati- 
cism  were  linked  together  in  this  great  scheme.  Mary's 
life  was  regarded  by  the  wisest  of  the  English  statesmen 
as  a  standing  menace.  When  her  complicity  with  the 
conspiracy  of  Babington,  which  involved  a  Spanish  inva- 
sion and  the  dethronement  and  death  of  Elizabeth  was 
proved,  the  execution  of  Mary  followed  (1587). 

Apart  from  the  interference  of  Elizabeth  in  the  Nether- 
lands, England  and  Spain  had  long  been  engaged  in  a  des- 
ultory warfare  on  the  ocean,  where  the  treasure  ships  of 
Philip  were  captured  by  Drake  and  his  compeers,  and 
the  Spanish  colonies  harassed  by  their  attacks.  The 
cruelty  of  the  Inquisition  to  English  sailors  in  Spain 
quickened  the  relish  of  the  great  English  mariners  for 
this  kind  of  retaliation.  The  sailing  of  the  invincible 
Armada  for  the  conquest  of  England  was  at  once  the  cul- 
mination of  this  prolonged,  indefinite  conflict,  and  the 
supreme  effort  of  the  Catholic  reaction  to  annihilate  the 
Protestant  strength.     The  valor  of  the  English  seamen, 


PROTESTANTISM   IN   IRELAND.  383 

with  the  winds  for  their  allies,  dispersed  and  destroyed 
the  mighty  fleet,  and  "  the  northern  ocean  even  to  the 
frozen  Thule  was  scattered  with  the  proud  shipwrecks  of 
the  Spanish  Armada."  1  A  death-blow  was  given  to  the 
hopes  of  the  enemies  of  Protestant  England  (1588). 

A  sketch  of  the  Reformation  in  Great  Britain  would  be 
incomplete  without  some  notice  of  the  attempts  to  plant 
Protestantism  in  Ireland.  Ireland,  one  of  the  last  of  the 
countries  to  bow  to  the  supremacy  of  the  Holy  See,  has 
been  equaled  by  none  in  its  devotion  to  the  Roman 
Church,  although  the  independence  of  the  country  was 
wrested  from  it  under  the  warrant  of  a  bull  of  Adrian 
IV.,  which  gave  it  to  Henry  II.  Protestantism  was  asso- 
ciated with  the  hated  domination  of  foreigners,  and  was 
propagated  according  to  methods  recognized  in  that  age 
as  lawful  to  the  conqueror.2  Invaders  who  were  engaged 
in  an  almost  perpetual  conflict  with  a  subject  race,  the 
course  of  which  was  marked  by  horrible  massacres,  could 
hardly  hope  to  convert  their  enemies  to  their  own  relig- 
ious faith.  Henry  VIII.,  having  made  himself  the  head 
of  the  English  Church,  proceeded  to  establish  his  eccle- 
siastical supremacy  in  the  neighboring  island.  This  was 
ordained  by  the  Irish  Parliament  in  1537,  but  was  re- 
sisted by  a  great  part  of  the  clergy,  with  the  Archbishop 
of  Armagh  at  their  head.  George  Browne,  a  willing 
agent  of  the  King,  who  had  been  Provincial  of  the 
Augustine  friars  in  England,  was  made  Archbishop  of 
Dublin.  The  Protestant  hierarchy  was  constituted,  but 
the  people  remained  Catholic.  The  mistaken  policy  of 
seeking  to  Anglicize  the  country  was  pursued,  and  the  ser- 
vices of  religion  were  conducted  in  a  tongue  which  they 
did  not  understand.  The  Prayer  Book,  which  was  intro- 
duced in  1551,  was  not  rendered  into  Irish,  but  was  to 

1  Milton,  Of  Reformation  in  England,  b.  ii. 

2  Hallam,  Const.  Hist.,  ch.  xviii. 


384      THE   REFORMATION   IN  ENGLAND   AND   SCOTLAND. 

be  rendered  into  Latin,  for  the  sake  of  ecclesiastics  and 
others  who  were  not  acquainted  with  English  !  On  the 
accession  of  Mary,  the  new  fabric  which  had  been  raised 
by  Henry  VIII.  and  his  son,  fell  to  pieces  without  resist- 
ance. As  the  Catholic  Reaction  became  organized  in 
Europe,  and  began  to  wage  its  contest  with  Queen  Eliza- 
beth, the  Irish  who  had  to  some  extent  attended  the 
English  service,  generally  deserted  it.  Protestantism 
had  no  footing  outside  of  the  Pale,  or  where  English 
soldiers  were  not  present  to  protect  it  or  force  it  upon 
the  people.  The  Episcopal  Church  in  Ireland  wore  a 
somewhat  Puritanic  cast,  and  in  its  formularies  set  forth 
prominently  the  Calvinistic  theology.  The  New  Testa- 
ment was  not  translated  into  Irish  until  1602 ;  and  the 
Prayer  Book,  though  translated  earlier,  was  not  sanc- 
tioned by  public  authority,  and  was  little  used.1  Among 
various  wise  suggestions  in  Lord  Bacon's  tract,  written  in 
1601,  entitled  "  Considerations  touching  the  Queen's  ser- 
vice in  Ireland,"  is  a  recommendation  to  take  care  "  of 
the  versions  of  Bibles  and  catechisms,  and  other  books 
of  instruction,  into  the  Irish  language."  2  With  equal 
sagacity  and  good  feeling,  he  counsels  the  establishment 
of  colonies  or  plantations,  the  sending  out  of  fervent, 
popular  preachers  and  of  pious  and  learned  bishops,  and 
the  fostering  of  education.  He  recommends  mildness 
and  toleration  rather  than  the  use  of  the  temporal  sword. 
But  the  policy  which  the  great  philosopher  and  states- 
man marked  out,  was  very  imperfectly  followed. 

1  Hardwick,  History  of  the  Reformation,  p.  270. 

2  This  tract  is  in  vol.  v.  of  Montagu's  edition  of  Bacon's  writings. 


CHAPTER  XL 

THE  REFORMATION  IN  ITALY  AND  IN  SPAIN:  THE 
COUNTER-REFORMATION  IN  THE  ROMAN  CATHOLIC 
CHURCH. 

Protestantism,  which  in  the  course  of  one  genera- 
tion spread  over  a  great  part  of  Central  and  Northern 
Europe,  penetrated  beyond  the  Alps  and  the  Pyrenees. 
But  here,  in  the  Italian  and  Spanish  peninsulas,  it  en- 
countered the  first  effectual  resistance.  Here  were  organ- 
ized the  forces  that  were  to  arrest  its  march,  and  even  to 
reconquer  territory  which  had  been  surrendered  to  the 
new  faith. 

After  the  emancipation  of  Italy  from  the  control  of  the 
German  emperors,  by  the  downfall  of  the  Hohenstaufen 
line,  in  the  middle  of  the  thirteenth  century,  a  period  of 
two  centuries  and  a  half  elapsed  prior  to  the  invasion  of 
Charles  VIII.  Then  Italy  became  the  field  and  the  prize 
of  the  conflict  between  the  Spanish- Austrian  house  and 
France.  The  long  interval  of  independence  preceding 
this  epoch,  notwithstanding  the  turbulence  and  confusion 
that  marked  the  political  history  of  Italy,  was  the  era  in 
which  art,  letters,  trade,  and  commerce  flourished  most ; 
the  period  in  which  the  intellectual  superiority  of  Italy 
among  the  European  nations  was  most  conspicuous.  But 
municipal  liberty  was  gradually  lost.  The  conflicts,  in 
the  northern  and  central  cities,  between  the  nobles  and 
the  commons,  generally  issued  in  the  triumph  of  the  lat- 
ter ;  but  the  next  step  was  the  grasping  of  supreme  power 
by  a  single  family.     The  dominion  of  a  tyrant  or  lord 

25 


386  THE   REFORMATION   IN    ITALY   AND   SPAIN.' 

was  built  np  on  the  ruins  of  republicanism.  Florence 
followed  the  fate  of  other  cities,  and  fell  at  last  under  the 
rule  of  the  Medici.1  The  division  of  Itaty  into  states,  at 
the  beginning  of  the  fifteenth  century  —  of  which  Naples, 
the  Papal  Kingdom,  Florence,  Milan,  and  Venice,  were 
the  chief  —  was  favorable  to  the  Reformation.  There  was 
no  one  central  government  with  power  to  crush  the  new 
opinions.  It  might  be  possible  for  those  who  were  perse- 
cuted in  one  city  to  flee  into  another.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  decline  of  the  spirit  of  liberty,  which  took  place  in 
the  age  before  the  Reformation,  the  brilliant  age  of  liter- 
ature and  art,  was  an  inauspicious  event. 

Italy  was  a  near  spectator  of  the  venality  and  profli- 
gacy of  the  Roman  curia,  and  the  victim  in  the  strife  that 
was  kindled  by  the  ambition  of  the  pontiffs  to  extend 
their  temporal  dominion  and  to  aggrandize  their  relatives. 
The  rebukes  that  were  thundered  from  the  pulpit  of  Sa- 
vonarola were  not  stripped  of  their  influence  in  consequence 
of  his  death,  for  which  the  enmity  of  Alexander  VI.  was 
largely  responsible.  In  the  Council  of  the  Lateran,  in 
1512,  ^Egidius,  General  of  the  Augustinian  Order,  and  the 
Count  of  Mirandola,  among  others,  denounced  the  abuses 
that  menaced  the  Church  and  religion  itself  with  ruin. 
The  arraignment  of  the  papal  administration  by  the 
Transalpine  reformers  would  naturally  meet  with  a  sym- 
pathetic response  in  Italy.  Yet  there  was  a  national 
pride  connected  with  the  Papacy  ;  and  this  sentiment  was 
strengthened  by  the  circumstance  that  the  Papacy  was 
often  attacked  as  an  Italian  institution,  and  in  a  style  that 
was  adapted  to  wound  Italian  feeling. 

As  far  back  as  the  twelfth  century,  Arnold  of  Brescia, 
inspired  by  the  teachings  of  Abelard  with  a  love  of  truth, 
and  catching  the  spirit  which  the  struggle  for  municipal 

1  On  the  condition  of  Italy  in  the  15th  century,  see  Sismondi,  Hist.  d.  Re'publ 
Ital.  d.  Moyen  Aye.  vn.  ch.  x. ;  Hallam,  Europe  duriny  the  Middle  Ayes,  ch.  iii. 
p.  ii. 


THE   RELIGIOUS   POSITION    OF   DANTE.  387 

liberty  was  beginning  to  nourish,  demanded  that  the 
clergy  should  renounce  their  worldly  possessions  and  tem- 
poral power,  and  return  to  a  life  of  apostolic  simplicity. 
For  a  time  his  eloquence  carried  the  day  in  Rome  itself. 
He  perished  at  last,  a  martyr  to  his  principles.1  The 
follies  and  vices  of  the  clergy,  even  the  iniquitous  doings 
of  Popes,  had  been  castigated  by  Italian  writers  from  the 
dawn  of  the  vernacular  literature.  The  lofty  and  bitter 
invectives  of  Dante  are  aimed  at  the  temporal  ambition 
and  at  particular  misdeeds  of  incumbents  of  the  Holy  See. 
At  the  very  opening  of  the  "  Inferno,"  he  paints  the  ex- 
isting Church,  clothed  with  temporal  power,  as  — 

"  A  she-wolf,  that  with  all  hungerings, 
Seemed  to  he  laden  in  her  meagreness, 
And  many  folk  has  caused  to  live  forlorn."  '- 

Pope  Anastasius  he  charges  with  heresy  and  places  among 
the  lost;3  Pope  Celestine  V.,  for  abdicating  the  papal 
chair  to  give  room  for  Boniface  VIII.,  lies  at  the  mouth 
of  hell  among  those  whom  mercy  and  justice  both  disdain  ;4 
and  Boniface  himself  expiates  his  crimes  in  a  deeper  abyss 
of  perdition.5  The  Popes  had  turned  from  shepherds  into 
wolves,  and  neglecting  the  Gospels  and  the  Fathers,  had 
only  conned  the  Decretals  :  — 

"  Their  meditations  reach  not  Nazareth."  G 

Manfred,  the  son  of  the  Emperor  Frederic  II.,  died  ex- 
communicate ;  but  in  Purgatory  he  was  found  having  the 
promise  of  everlasting  happiness  :  — 

"  By  malison  of  theirs  is  not  so  lost 
Eternal  love,  that  it  cannot  return, 
So  long  as  hope  has  anything  of  green."  " 

But  Dante  receives  the  dogmas  of  the  Church  ;  his  whole 
work  is  cast  in  the  mould  of  the  traditional  theology  ;  he 

1  Eor  the  literature  respecting  Arnold  of  Brescia,  see   Schmidt's  article  in 
Herzog's  Real-Encycl.,  i.  547. 

2  Inferno,  i.  49-51.  3  Ibid.,  xi.  8.  *  Ibid.,  Ill-  59. 

5  Ibid,,  xix.  53.  6  Paradiso,  ix.  137.  '  Puryatorio,  iii.  133-135. 


888  THE   REFORMATION  IN   ITALY   AND   SPAIN. 

places  in  the  joys  of  Paradise,  in  "  the  heaven  of  the 
sun,"  Aquinas,  Bonaventura,  Albertus  Magnus,  Peter 
Lombard,  and  the  other  great  lights  of  orthodoxy.1  Her- 
esiarchs  groan  under  a  doom  from  which  there  is  no  de- 
liverance. 2  It  is  the  abominations  in  the  conduct  of 
ecclesiastics,  and  especially  their  seizure  of  worldly  do- 
minion, with  the  wealth  and  pride  which  accompany  it, 
that  move  the  solemn  poet's  ire.  Against  this  temporal 
rule  and  party  spirit  of  his  successors,  St.  Peter  inveighs 
in  Paradise.     He  exclaims  :  — 

"  In  garb  of  shepherds  the  rapacious  wolves 
Are  seen  from  here  above  o'er  all  the  pastures."  3 

Dante's  ideal  is  the  empire  restored  to  universal  rule  and 
having  its  seat  in  Italy.  This  theory  of  a  monarchy  is 
the  subject  of  his  political  treatise.4  Petrarch  takes  the 
same  general  position,  although  his  denunciations  of  the 
pollution  of  the  Papal  curia,  the  mystical  Babylon  of  the 
Apocalypse,  surpass  in  intensity  the  most  fiery  declama- 
tion of  Protestants  in  later  times.  Boccaccio  goes  a  step 
further.  His  treatment  of  the  Church,  had  we  no  other 
knowledge  of  him  than  what  the  Decamerone  affords, 
would  even  lead  to  the  conclusion  that  he  had  no  rever- 
ence for  its  teaching.  Ecclesiastical  persons  are  made  to 
figure  in  ludicrous  and  scandalous  situations.  One  of  his 
tales,  for  example,  is  the  story  of  a  Jew  whom  a  friend 
endeavored  to  convert  to  the  Christian  faith.     The  Jew 

i  Paradise,  x.  98,  99,  107;  xii.  127. 

2  Inferno,  x.  3  Paradiso, xxvii.  55-50. 

4  A  class  nt  critics  have  unsuccessfully  attempted  to  show  that  Danfe^was 
really  hostile  to  die  spiritual  sovereignty  of  the  Popes.  One  theory  is,  that  the 
principal  poets  of  that  age  belonged  to  secret  anti-sacerdotal  associations.  This 
theory  i.-  advocated  by  Gabriele  Rossetti:  Sullo  Spiritu  antipapak  cfie  j>i-odi/sse 
1 1  Re/or  a,  etc.,  translated  into  English  by  Miss  Ward  (London,  1834).  Among 
the  instructive  works  upon  Dante  is  that  of  Prof.  V.  Potta,  Danttas  PhiLi$apker% 
Patriot,  and  Poet,  New  York,  1805.  A  valuable  list  of  works  on  Dante,  some 
of  which  relate  directly  to  his  theology,  is  given  by  Prof.  Abegg  in  his  Essay: 
Die  Idee  der  Gerechtigkeit  u.  die  strafreclitlichen  Grundsiitze  in  D.inte's  giitU, 
Combdie,  in  the  Jahrb.  d.  detitMlten  Dante-Gesellschnft ,  vi.,  p.  180,  n.  See 
also  Prof.  J.  R.  Lowell's  learned  article  on  Dante,  X.  A.  Review,  July,  1S72. 


INFLUENCE   OF   THE   HUMANISTS.  389 

resolves  to  go  from  Paris  to  Rome  in  order  to  see  Chris- 
tianity at  its  head-quarters  —  a  purpose  that  strikes  with 
dismay  his  Christian  friend,  who  doubts  not  that  the  in- 
iquitous lives  of  the  Pope,  of  his  cardinals  and  court,  Avill 
chase  from  the  Jew's  mind  all  thoughts  of  conversion. 
But  in  due  time  he  comes  back  a  Christian  believer, 
and  explains  to  his  astonished  friend  that  the  spectacle 
which  he  had  beheld  in  the  capital  of  Christianity  had 
convinced  him  that  the  Christian  religion  must  have  a 
supernatural  origin  and  divine  support ;  else  it  would 
have  been  driven  out  of  the  world  by  the  profligacy  and 
folly  of  its  guardians.1 

It  is  generally  conceded  that  after  the  time  of  Dante, 
Petrarch,  and  Boccaccio,  the  passionate  study  of  the  an- 
cients, which  these  great  writers  had  fostered,  suspended 
in  a  remarkable  degree  the  development  of  Italian  lit- 
erature, in  the  path  of  original  production.2  The  Re- 
naissance was  antiquarian  and  critical  in  its  spirit.  All 
that  could  be  done  for  a  long  time  was  to  count  and  weigh 
the  treasures  of  antiquity  which  enthusiastic  explorers 
discovered  within  the  walls  of  monasteries,  or  brought 
from  the  East.  The  revival  of  letters  led  to  the  exposure 
of  fictions,  like  the  pretended  donation  of  Constantine, 
which  Laurentius  Valla,  whom  Bellarmine  called  a  pre- 
cursor of  the  Lutherans,  disproved  in  a  treatise  that  pro- 
duced a  general  excitement.  The  sceptical  tone  of  Italian 
Humanism  reduced  to  a  low  point  the  authority  of  the 
Church  among  the  cultivated  class.  But  the  Humanists 
seldom  possessed  the  heroic  qualities  of  character  which 
qualified  them  to  endure  suffering  for  the  cause  of  truth. 
The  love  of  fame,  a  passion  which  the.  Christian  spirit  in 

1  This  jest  is  reproduced  in  a  different  shape  by  Voltaire,  who  says  of  "our 
religion  "  :  "  It  is,unquestionably  divine,  since  seventeen  centuries  of  imposture 
and  imbecility  have  not  destroyed  it."  Quoted  by  Morley,  Voltaire,  p.  305. 
On  Boccaccio's  treatment  of  ecclesiastics  and  of  religion,  see  Ginguenc',  Hist, 

Litteraire  (V Italic,  iii.  120  seq. 

2  Sismondi,  Hist.  View  of  the.  Lit.  of  the  South  of  Europe,  i.  30G. 


890  THE   REFORMATION    IN   ITALY   AND   SPAIN/ 

the  Middle  Ages  had  kept  in  check,  re-appeared,  in  an  ex- 
cessive measure,  in  the  devotees  of  pagan  literature.  They 
burned  incense  to  the  great  on  whom  they  depended  for 
patronage  and  advancement,  but  carried  into  their  dis- 
putes with  one  another  an  acrimony  and  fierceness  with- 
out previous  example.  Poggio,  one  of  the  principal  men 
of  letters  in  the  first  half  of  the  fifteenth  century,  infused 
into  his  polemical  writings  a  ferocity  which  is  only  less 
repulsive  than  the  gross  obscenity  that  defiles  other  works 
from  his  pen.1  The  Italian  Humanists  did  a  vast  work 
of  a  negative  sort  in  sweeping  away  superstition,  and  in 
undermining  the  credit  of  ecclesiastics  and  of  their  dogmas. 
Their  positive  services  in  behalf  of  a  more  enlightened 
religion  are  of  less  account.  Yet  good  fruit  often  grew 
out  of  the  attention  that  was  given  to  the  Scriptures.2 
Academies,  or  private  literary  associations,  sprang  up  in 
the  principal  cities  ;  and  in  them  theological  topics  were 
discussed  with  freedom.  The  wide-spread  culture  formed 
a  soil  in  which  the  seed  of  the  new  doctrine,  under  favor- 
able circumstances,  might  germinate.3 

At  an  early  day,  the  writings  of  Luther  and  of  the 
other  Reformers  were  widely  disseminated  in  Italy. 
They  were  circulated  under  fictitious  names,  and  thus 

1  Tiraboschi,  Storia  della  Letteratura  Ital.,  vi.  1027  seq.  On  Poggio,  see 
also  Hallam,  Intr.  to  the  Lit.  of  Europe,  i.  G6.  Shepherd,  Life  of Poggio,  p.  -AGO. 
Shepherd  says  of  his  indecency  and  levity,  that  they  were  "rather  vices  of  the 
times  than  of  the  man." 

2  Upon  the  moral  and  religious  tone,  as  well  as  upon  the  other  characteristics 
of  the  Renaissance,  there  arc  interesting  statements  in  Burckhardt,  Die  Cultur 
d.  Renaissance  in  Ftalien  (Basel,  1880).  An  excellent  sketch  of  the  Renaissance 
in  Italy,  in  its  various  features,  is  given  by  Gregorovius,  Geschichte  d.  Stadt 
Rom  im  Mittelaker,  vol.  vii.  c.  vi.     (Stuttgart.  1870.) 

3  Gerdesius,  Specimen  It  alios  Reformats  (Lugd.  Bat.,  17(J5).  An  excellent 
work  on  the  Reformation  in  Italy  is  that  of  Dr.  McCrie,  History  of  tin  Prt  gress 
and  Suppression  of  the  Ri  /'urination  in  Italy  (new  edition,  1856).  This,  together 
with  the  History  of  the  Reformation  in  Spain,  by  the  same  author,  are  among 
the  most  valuable  of  the  monographs  relating  to  the  period  of  the  Reformation. 
Ranke,  History  of  the  Popes  of  Rome  during  the  Kith  and  17/7/  Centuries, 
(the  sequel  of  an  earlier  work,  Die  Fursten  u.  V biker  von  siidl.  Europa),  pre- 
sents much  additional  matter  of  extreme  value. 


CHARACTER    OF   ITALIAN   PROTESTANTISM.  391 

eluded  the  vigilance  of  the  ecclesiastical  authorities.1 
The  war  between  Charles  V.  and  the  Pope,  that  broke 
out  in  1526,  brought  a  host  of  Lutheran  soldiers  into 
Italy,  many  of  whom,  after  the  sack  of  Rome,  remained 
long  at  Naples.  Not  only  by  their  direct  influence,  but 
by  the  freedom  which  their  presence  occasioned  during 
the  progress  of  hostilities,  the  new  doctrine  was  dissemi- 
nated. The  Augustinian  theology  took  root  in  many 
minds,  and  produced  a  greater  or  less  sympathy  with  the 
Protestant  movement.  The  peculiarity  in  the  case,  of  It- 
aly, and,  still  more,  of  Spain,  is,  that  Protestantism  could 
not  avow  itself  without  being  instantly  smothered.  De- 
cided Protestantism  could  not  live  except  in  concealment. 
Protestant  worshippers  could  exist  only  as  secret  societies. 
In  considering  the  Reformation  in  these  countries,  we 
must  take  into  view  the  real  but  unavowed  Protestant- 
ism ;  and  also  the  leanings  toward  the  Protestant  system 
which  were  not  sufficient  to  prompt  to  a  renunciation  of 
the  old  Church,  or  were  repressed  before  they  could  ripen 
into  full  convictions.  There  were  some  who  only  hoped 
for  the  removal  of  the  corruption  that  existed  in  the  Papal 
court  and  throughout  the  Catholic  Church.  Another 
class  sympathized  with  the.  Reformers  in  matters  of  doc- 
trine, especially  on  the  subject  of  Justification,  but  were 
not  disposed  to  alter  materially  the  existing  polity  or 
forms  of  worship.  Still  another  class  were  deterred  by 
timidity,  or  lack  of  earnestness,  or  some  more  commend- 
able motive,  from  declaring  in  favor  of  the  Protestant 
system  which  they,  at  heart,  adopted.2  Protestantism 
in  Italy  was  thus  a  thing  of  degrees  ;  and  in  its  earlier 
stages  developed  itself  in  connection  with  tendencies 
which    diverged    into    the    reactionary,    defensive,    and 

1  Melancthon's  Loci  Communes  were  printed  at  Venice,  the  name  of  the  au- 
thor being  given  on  the  title-page,  as  Ippofdo  da  Terra  Nigra,  McCrie,  p.  29. 
See  also  Cantu,  Storia  delta  Lett.  Ital,  p.  287. 

2  McCrie,  p.  102. 


392  THE  REFORMATION   IN  ITALY   AND   SPAIN. 

aggressive  force  to  which  the  Catholic  Church  owed  its 
restoration. 

Before  the  death  of  Leo  X.,  a  reverent,  devotional  spirit, 
opposed  to  the  sceptical  and  epicurean  tone  of  society, 
manifested  itself  among  a  class  of  educated  Italians. 
Fifty  or  sixty  persons  united  at  Rome  in  what  they 
called  the  Oratory  of  Divine  Love,  and  held  meetings  for 
worship  and  mutual  edification.  Among  them  were  men 
who  afterwards  reached  the  highest  distinction,  but  were 
destined  to  separate  from  one  another  in  their  views  of 
Reform  :  Caraifa,  Contarini,  Sadolet,  Giberto,  all  of  whom 
were  subsequently  made  cardinals.  The  common  bond 
among  them  was  the  earnest  desire  for  the  removal  of 
abuses,  and  for  the  moral  reformation  of  the  Church  in 
its  head  and  members.  Contarini  may  be  considered  the 
head  of  those  who  espoused  a  doctrine  of  Justification, 
not  materially  distinguished  from  that  of  Luther.  With 
him  were  found,  a  few  years  later,  at  Venice,  besides 
former  associates,  Flaminio,  a  thorough  believer  in  the 
evangelical  idea  of  gratuitous  salvation,  and  Reginald 
Pole,  who  adopted  the  same  opinion.  This  party  of 
Evangelical  Catholics  were  devoted  to  the  Catholic 
Church,  and  to  the  unity  of  it.  Their  aim  was  to  purify 
the  existing  body  ;  but  in  their  views  of  the  great  doc- 
trine, which  formed  the  original  ground  of  controversy, 
they  stood  in  a  position  to  meet  and  conciliate  the  Prot- 
estants. Their  doctrine  of  Justification,  bringing  with 
it  a  greater  or  less  inclination  to  other  doctrinal  changes 
in  keeping  with  it,  spread  among  the  intelligent  classes 
throughout  Italy. 

In  Ferrara,  the  reformed  opinions  were  encouraged 
and  protected  by  Renee  or  Renata,  the  wife  of  Hercules 
II.,  who  was  equally  distinguished  for  her  learning  and 
her  personal  attractions.  At  her  Court  the  French  poet, 
Clement  Marot,  found  a  refuge  ;  and  here  Calvin  resided 
for  some  months,  under  an  assumed  name.     Among  the 


PROGRESS    OF   PROTESTANTISM   IN   ITALY.  393 

professors  in  the  University  at  Ferrara  was  Morata,  the 
father  of  the  celebrated  Olympia  Morata,  and,  like  her, 
imbued  with  evangelical  opinions.  At  Modena,  which 
was  renowned  for  the  culture  of  its  inhabitants,  the  new 
doctrine  found  a  hospitable  reception  ;  especially  among 
the  members  of  the  academy,  who  looked  with  contempt 
on  the  priests  and  monks.  Cardinal  Morone,  the  Bishop 
of  Modena,  who  had  been  absent  in  Germany  on  missions 
from  the  Pope,  writes,  in  1542 :  "  Wherever  I  go,  and 
from  all  quarters,  I  hear  that  the  city  has  become 
Lutheran."  1  In  Florence,  though  it  was  the  seat  of  the 
Medici,  and  furnished  in  this  age  two  popes,  Leo  X.  and 
Clement  VII.,  many  embraced  the  Protestant  faith. 
Among  them  was  Brucioli,  who  published,  at  Venice,  a 
translation  of  the  Scriptures,  and  a  commentary  on  the 
whole  Bible.  Not  less  than  three  translators  of  the  Bible 
in  this  period  were  born  at  Florence.  At  Bologna, 
Moliio,  a  celebrated  teacher  in  the  University,  after  the 
year  1583  taught  the  Protestant  views  on  Justification 
and  other  points,  until  he  was  removed  from  his  office  by 
order  of  the  Pope.  Subsequently,  through  a  letter  to  the 
Protestants  of  Bologna,  from  Bucer,  and  through  another 
letter  from  them,  we  learn  that  they  were  numerous. 
Venice,  where  printing  and  the  book-trade  flourished, 
and  where  the  internal  police  was  less  severe  than  else- 
where, offered  the  best  advantages  both  for  the  safe 
reception  and  active  diffusion  of  the  reformed  doctrines. 
"  You  give  me  joy,"  said  Luther,  in  1528,  "  by  what  you 
write  of  the  Venetians  receiving  the  word  of  God." 
Pietro  Carnesecchi,  who  afterwards  died  for  his  faith, 
Lupetino,  provincial  of  the  Franciscans,  who  also  per- 
ished as  a  martyr,  and  Baldassare  Altieri,  who  acted  as 
agent  of  the  Protestant  princes  in  Germany,  were  among 
the  most  efficient  in  diffusing  the  Protestant  opinions.2 
Padua,  Verona,  and   other  places  within   the  Venetian 

1  McCne,  p.  54.  a  McCrie,  p.  G4. 


394  THE   REFORMATION   IN   ITALY   AND   SPAIN, 

territory,  likewise  furnished  adherents  of  the  new  faith. 
The  same  was  true  of  the  Milanese,  where  the  contiguity 
to  Switzerland,  and  the  political  changes  in  the  duchy, 
opened  avenues  for  the  introduction  of  heresy. 

In  Naples,  Juan  Yaldez,  a  Spaniard,  Secretary  of  the 
Viceroy  of  Charles  V.,  was  an  eloquent  and  influential 
supporter  of  the  evangelical  doctrine,  and  won  to  the 
full  or  partial  adoption  of  it  many  persons  of  distinction; 
including,  it  is  thought,  Vittoria  Colonna  and  other  mem- 
bers of  the  Colonna  family.1  In  many  other  places,  a 
good  beginning  was  made  in  the  same  direction.  Not  a 
few  among  the  numerous  gifted  and  cultivated  women  in 
that  age,  when  zeal  for  the  study  of  the  ancient  authors 
had  become  a  pervading  passion,  were  attracted  to  the 
evangelical  doctrine.  This  doctrine  gained  many  con- 
verts among  the  middle  classes.  In  a  decree  of  the  In- 
quisition, three  thousand  school-masters  were  said  to  have 
espoused  it.  Caraffa  informed  Paul  III.  that  "  the  whole 
of  Italy  was  infected  with  the  Lutheran  heresy,  which 
had  been  extensively  embraced  both  by  statesmen  and 
ecclesiastics."  2  "  Whole  libraries,"  says  Melancthon,  in 
a  letter  written  probably  in  1540,  "  have  been  carried 
from  the  late  fair  into  Italy."  There  is  no  doubt  that 
the  evangelical  doctrine  was  favorably  regarded  by 
a  large  body  of  educated  persons,  for  it  was  almost 
exclusively  among  these  that  it  found  sympathy.  The 
most  eminent  preacher  in  Italy,  Bernardino  Ochino, 
General  of  the  Capuchins,  who  drew  crowds  of  admiring 
auditors  at  Venice,  and  wherever  else  lie  appeared  in  the 
pulpit,  and  Peter  Martyr  Vermigli,  an  honored  mem- 
ber of  the  Augustinian  order,  who  Avas  hardly  less  distin- 
guished, and  a  much  abler  theologian,  were  of  this  num- 

1  See  the  learned  article  on  Valdez  by  Dr.  Ed.  Bohmer,  in  Ilerzog,  Real- 
Encycl.d.  Theul.  There  were  two  brothers,  Alfonso  and  Juan.  Alfonso  was  also 
favorable  to  the  Reformation.  Dr.  Ik  Inner  presents  a  full  description  of  the 
•writings  and  opinions  of  Juan  Valdez. 

2  Quoted  by  MeCrie,  p.  113. 


THE   ORATORY   OF   DIVINE    LOVE.  895 

ber.  Chiefly  owing  to  the  labors  of  Martyr,  Lucca  had, 
perhaps,  more  converts  to  the  evangelical  faith  than  any 
other  Italian  city.  The  little  treatise  on  the  wt  Benefits  of 
Christ,"  which  was  composed  by  Paleario,  was  circulated 
in  thousands  of  copies.1  We  have  the  testimony  of  Pope 
Clement  VII.  to  the  wide  prevalence,  in  different  parts 
of  Italy,  of  "  the  pestiferous  heresy  of  Luther,"  not  only 
among  secular  persons,  but  also  among  the  clergy.2 

In  Venice  and  Naples,  the  Reformed  Churches  were 
organized  with  pastors,  and  held  their  secret  meetings. 
Unhappily,  the  Sacramentarian  quarrel  broke  out  in  the 
former  place,  and  was  aggravated  by  an  intolerant  letter 
of  Luther,  in  which  he  declared  his  preference  of  tran- 
substantiation  to  the  Zwinglian  doctrine  :  a  letter,  which 
Melancthon,  in  his  epistles  to  friends,  noticed  with  strong 
terms  of  condemnation. 

Paul  III.,  who  succeeded  Clement  VII.,  in  1534,  showed 
himself  friendly  to  the  Catholic  reforming  party.  He 
made  Contarini  cardinal,  and  elevated  to  the  same  rank 
Caraffa,  Pole,  Sadolet,  and  others,  most  of  whom  had 
belonged  to  the  Oratory  of  Divine  Love,  and  some  of 
whom  were  friendly  to  the  Protestant  doctrine  of  salva- 
tion. He  appointed  Commissions  of  Reform,  whose 
business  it  was  to  point  out  and  remove  abuses  in  the 
Roman  curia,  such  as  had  excited  everywhere  just  com- 
plaint. A  commission,  to  which  Sadolet  and  Caraffa 
belonged,  met  at  Bologna  in  1587,  and  presented  to  the 
Pope  a  consilium,  or  opinion,  in  which  they  described  the 
abuses  in  the  administration  of  the  Church  as  amounting: 
to  "  a  pestiferous  malady."  Their  advice  was  approved 
by  Paul  III.,  and  printed  by  his  direction.  Ridicule, 
however,  was  excited  in   Germany,  when   it  was  known 

1  For  a  full  account  of  Paleario,  sec  M.  Young,  Life  of  Paleario:  Hist,  of 
Italian  Reformers  in  the  10th  Century.  2  vols.  (London,  18G0.)  The  work  is 
valuable  as  illustrative  of  the  narrative  of  McCrie. 

2  McCrie,  p.  45. 


396  THE   REFORMATION   IN   ITALY  AND   SPAIN*. 

that  one  of  the  measures  recommended  by  the  accom- 
plished Sadolet,  in  connection  with  his  associates,  was  the 
exclusion  of  the  Colloquies  of  Erasmus  from  seminaries 
of  learning.  The  hopes  of  Contarini  and  his  friends  were 
sanguine  ;  and  it  seemed  not  impossible  that  so  great  con- 
cessions might  be  made  that  the  Protestants  would  once 
more  unite  themselves  with  the  Church.  At  the  Confer- 
ence at  Ratisbon,  in  1541,  Contarini  appeared  as  Legate 
of  the  Pope,  and  met,  on  the  other  side,  Bucer  and  Me- 
lancthon,  the  most  moderate  and  yielding  of  all  the  Prot- 
estant leaders.  The  political  situation  was  such,  that 
the  Emperor  exerted  himself  to  the  utmost  to  bring  about 
an  accommodation  between  the  two  parties.  On  the  four 
great  articles,  of  the  nature  of  man,  original  sin,  redemp- 
tion and  justification,  they  actually  came  to  an  agree- 
ment. The  Primacy  of  the  Pope,  and  the  Eucharist, 
were  the  two  great  points  that  remained.  But  the  proj- 
ect of  union  met  with  opposition  from  various  quarters. 
Francis  I.  raised  an  outcry  against  it,  as  a  surrender  of 
the  Catholic  faith,  his  motive  being  the  fear  of  augment- 
ing the  power  of  Charles.  Luther  was  dissatisfied  with 
the  platform,  on  account  of  its  want  of  definiteness,  and 
had  no  confidence  in  the  practicableness  of  a  union.  On 
the  opposite  side,  the  same  feeling  manifested  itself: 
Caraffa  did  not  approve  of  the  terms  of  the  agreement 
which  Contarini  had  sanctioned,  especially  in  regard  to 
justification,  and  Paul  III.  took  the  same  view.  There 
was  jealousy  of  Charles  at  Rome :  all  of  his  enemies 
combined  against  the  scheme.  Thus  the  great  project 
fell  to  the  ground. 

This  event  marks  the  division  of  the  Catholic  reform- 
ing party.  Caraffa,  while  severe  and  earnest  in  his  de- 
mand for  practical  reforms  which  should  purify  the 
administration  of  the  Church,  from  the  Pope  downwards, 
was  sternly  and  inflexibly  hostile  to  every  modification 
of  the  dogmatic  system.     Fie  stood  forth  as  the  repre- 


THE   ORDER   OF  JESUITS.  397 

sentative  and  leader  of  those  who  were  resolved  to  defend 
to  the  last  the  polity  and  dogmas  of  the  Church,  against 
all  innovation,  while  at  the  same  time  they  aimed  to 
infuse  a  spirit  of  strict  and  even  ascetic  purity  and  zeal 
into  all  its  officers,  from  the  highest  to  the  lowest.  It 
was  this  party  that  revived  the  tone  of  the  Catholic 
Church,  rallied  its  disorganized  forces,  and  turned  upon 
its  adversaries  with  a  renewed  and  formidable  energy. 

There  were  two  principal  instruments  by  which  this  in- 
ternal renovation  and  aggressive  movement  of  the  Catholic 
Church  were  accomplished.  These  were  the  rise  of  new 
orders,  especially  the  order  of  Jesuits,  and  the  Council 
of  Trent. 

A  revival  of  zeal  in  the  Catholic  Church  has  always 
been  signalized  by  the  appearance  of  new  developments 
of  the  monastic  spirit,  hi  truth,  monasticism  arose  at 
the  outset  from  a  feeling  of  weariness  and  disgust  at  the 
worldliness  which  had  invaded  the  Church.  When  the 
societies  under  the  Benedictine  rule  lapsed  from  their 
strictness  of  discipline  and  purity  of  life,  new  fraterni- 
ties, as  that  of  Clugni,  sprang  up,  in  which  monastic 
simplicity  and  severity  were  restored.  As  these  in  turn 
felt  the  enervating  influence  of  wealth,  the  great  mendi- 
cant orders,  the  Dominicans  and  Franciscans,  were  estab- 
lished, the  offspring  of  a  more  earnest  spirit.  One 
palpable  sign  of  the  resuscitation  of  the  Catholic  body 
was  the  formation  of  new  monastic  fraternities,  like  the 
Theatins,  who  were  organized  under  the  auspices  of 
Caraffa —  priests  witli  monastic  vows,  who  did  not  call 
themselves  monks,  however,  and  adopted  no  austerities 
which  interfered  with  their  practical  labors  in  preaching, 
administering  the  sacraments,  and  tending  the  sick. 
Their  fervid  addresses  from  the  pulpit  were  the  more 
impressive  from  the  knowledge  which  their  auditors  had 
of  their  devoted  lives.  They  were  gradually  trans- 
formed into  a  seminary  for  the  training  of  priests.     But 


398  THE   REFORMATION   IN   ITALY   AND   SPAIN. 

this  and  other  new  orders,  significant  and  effective  as 
they  were,  were  soon  eclipsed  by  the  more  renowned  and 
influential  Society  of  Jesus.  Ignatius  Loyola,  a  Spanish 
soldier  of  noble  birth,  blending  with  the  love  of  his 
profession  something  of  the  religious  spirit  that  had 
characterized  the  medieval  chivalry,  received  in  the  war 
against  the  French,  at  the  siege  of  Pampeluna,  wounds 
in  both  his  legs,  which  disabled  him  from  military  ser- 
vice. In  his  meditations  during  his  illness,  the  dreams 
of  chivalry  were  curiously  mingled  with  devotional  as- 
pirations. The  glory  of  St.  Dominic,  St.  Francis,  and 
other  heroes  of  the  faith,  seized  on  his  imagination.1 
More  and  more  the  visions  of  a  secular  knighthood  trans- 
formed themselves  into  visions  of  a  spiritual  knighthood 
under  Christ  as  the  Leader.  He  exchanged  the  romance 
of  Amadis  for  the  lives  of  the  saints.  The  romantic 
devotion  of  a  knight  to  his  lady  turned  into  an  analogous 
consecration  to  the  Virgin,  before  whose  image  he  hung 
up  his  lance  and  shield.  Tormented  for  a  long  time 
with  remorse  and  despondency,  with  alternations  of 
peace  and  joy,  he  at  length  found  relief  in  the  convic- 
tion that  his  gloomy  feelings  were  inspirations  of  the 
evil  spirit,  and  therefore  to  be  trampled  under  foot  and 
cast  out.  He  did  not  escape  from  his  mental  distress,  as 
Luther  did,  by  resting  on  the  Word  of  God  and  the  re- 
vealed method  of  forgiveness,  but  in  a  way  more  con- 
sonant with  the  singular  characteristics  of  his  mind.2 
The  legal  system  of  the  Middle  Ages  had  always  pro- 
duced a  yearning  for  rapturous,  ecstatic  experiences, 
which  might  afford  that  inward  assurance  of  salvation 
which  the  accepted  theory  of  Justification  could  not  yield. 
At  Paris,  where  Ignatius  went  to  study  theology,  he 
brought  completely  under  his  influence  his  two  compan- 
ions, Faber  and  Francis  Xavier.     In  a  cell  of  the  Col- 

1  Maffeius,  rgnatii  Loiolce  Vita,  ch.  ii.  (Conversio  ejus  ad  Christum). 

2  Ranke,  History  of  the  Popes,  i.  183. 


IGNATIUS    LOYOLA.  399 

lege  of  St.  Barbara,  the  first  steps  were  taken  in  the 
formation  of  this  powerful  and  celebrated  society.  Three 
other  Spaniards  joined  the  same  enthusiastic  circle. 
They  took  upon  them  the  vow  of  chastity,  swore  to 
spend  their  lives,  if  possible,  at  Jerusalem,  in  absolute 
poverty,  in  the  care  of  Christians,  or  in  efforts  to  convert 
the  Saracens ;  or,  if  this  should  not  be  permitted  them, 
they  engaged  to  offer  themselves  to  the  Pope,  to  be  sent 
wherever  he  should  wish,  and  to  do  whatever  he  should 
command.  In  Venice,  they  were  ordained  as  priests, 
and  here  it  became  evident  that  the  appointed  theatre 
of  their  labors  was  Europe,  and  not  the  East.  In  1540 
their  order  was  sanctioned  ;  in  1543,  unconditionally. 
They  chose  Ignatius  for  their  President.  The  new  order 
was  exempt  from  those  monastic  exercises  which  con- 
sume the  time  of  monks  generally,  and  was  left  free 
for  practical  labors.  These  were  principally  preaching, 
hearing  confession,  and  directing  individual  consciences, 
and  the  education  of  youth,  a  part  of  their  work  which 
they  regarded,  from  the  beginning,  as  in  the  highest 
degree  essential.  The  "  Spiritual  Exercises  "  of  Ignatius 
was  the  text-book,  on  which  the  inward  life  of  the  mem- 
bers was  moulded,  and  which  served  as  a  guide  in  the 
management  of  the  confessional.  The  absolute  detach- 
ing of  the  soul  from  the  world,  and  from  all  its  objects  of 
desire,  and  the  absolute  renunciation  of  self,  are  a  cardi- 
nal element  in  the  spiritual  drill  set  forth  in  this  manual. 
It  is  a  course  of  severe  and  prolonged  introspection,  and 
of  forced,  continuous  attention  to  certain  themes  of 
thought ;  the  design  of  the  whole  being  to  bind  the  will 
immovably  in  the  path  of  religious  consecration.  This 
effect  is  produced  by  exciting,  and,  at  the  same  time, 
subjugating  the  imagination.  It  is  the  narratives,  not 
the  doctrines,  of  the  Gospel,  to  which  the  mind  is 
riveted  in  prolonged  contemplation.  The  aim  is  to  give 
to  the  mental  perceptions  the  vividness  of  external  vision. 


400  THE   REFORMATION    IN    ITALY    AND    SPAIN. 

Ignatius  carries  the  "  reign  of  the  senses  within  the 
sphere  of  the  soul."  To  the  imaginative  piety  of  the 
Middle  Ages,  that  reveled  in  ecstacies  and  raptures,  he 
gives  a  systematic  form,  a  definite  direction.  The  effect 
of  a  discipline  like  this,  where  reason  gives  up  the  throne 
to  imagination,  which  is  ever  excited  and  at  the  same 
time  enslaved,  could  not  be  otherwise  than  deleterious 
upon  the  moral  nature.  Yet  there  is  a  wide  contrast  be- 
tween the  Jesuitism  of  Loyola  and  the  degenerate  Jesuit- 
ism depicted  in  the  "Provincial  Letters."  1 

The  compact  organization  of  the  Society  of  Jesus,  with 
its  three  grades  of  membership,  included  provisions  for 
mutual  oversight  of  such  a  character,  that  the  General 
even,  notwithstanding  his  well-nigh  unlimited  power, 
might  be  admonished,  and,  on  adequate  grounds,  deposed 
from  his  station.  The  one  comprehensive  obligation  to 
which  the  members  were  bound,  was  that  of  instant,  un- 
questioning, unqualified  obedience.  To  go  where  they 
were  sent,  if  it  were  to  a  tribe  of  savages  in  the  re- 
motest part  of  the  globe  ;  to  do  what  they  were  bidden, 
without  delay  and  without  a  murmur,  in  a  spirit  of  abso- 
lute self-surrender,  "  utque  cadaver,"  was  the  primal  duty. 
Such  was  the  origin  and  general  character  of  the  Society 
which  Avas  destined  to  wield  an  incalculable  influence  in 
resuscitating  Catholicism,  as  well  as  in  weakening,  and,  in 
some  quarters,  annihilating  the  power  of  its  adversaries. 

The  second  of  the  great  agencies  of  Catholic  renovation 
was  the  Tridentine   Council.2     For  a  long  period,  the 

1  Martin,  Hist.  '!<    /■'ranee,  viii.  205. 

2  The  history  <>f  the  Council  of  Trent  has  been  written  by  two  authors  of  an 
opposite  temper,  Father  Paul  Sarpi,  an  enemy  of  the  Papal  power,  and  Pallavi- 
cini,  its  defender  and  apologist.  Ranke  has  subjected  these  important  works  to 
a  searching  criticism  and  comparison,  in  the.  Appendix  (§  ii.)  of  the  History  of 
the  Popes.  He  says:  "Both  of  them  are  complete  partizans,  and  are  deficient 
in  the  spirit  of  an  historian,  which  seizes  upon  circumstances  and  objects  in  their 
full  truth,  and  brings  them  distinctly  to  view.  Sarpi  had  the  power  to  do  so, 
but  his  only  aim  was  to  attack:  Pallavicini  had  infinitely  less  of  the  requisite 
talent,  and  his  object  was  to  defend  his  party  at  all  hazards."     Of  Sarpi,  Ranke 


THE  COUNCIL  OF  TRENT.  401 

project  of  a  Council,  which  was  a  favorite  one  with  the 
Reformers  for  some  time,  and  which  the  Emperor  insisted 
on,  was  repugnant  in  the  highest  degree  to  the  wishes  of 
the  Popes.  A  general  council  was  their  dread.  It  was 
something,  however,  which  it  was  more  and  more  difficult 
to  avoid.  The  spread  of  heresy,  even  in  Italy,  was  one 
motive  which  made  Paul  III.  willing  to  convoke  such  an 
assembly.  The  Council  of  Trent  was  formally  opened 
in  December,  1545.  The  great  question  was  whether  it 
should  begin  with  the  reform  of  the  Papacy,  or  with  defi- 
nitions of  dogma.  In  other  words,  what  attitude  should 
the  Council  take  towards  the  Protestants  ?  A  concilia- 
tory or  antagonistic  one  ?  Caraffa  was  sustained  in  his 
policy  by  the  Jesuits.  The  Papal  influence  predominated, 
and  having  defined  the  sources  of  knowledge  of  Revealed 
Religion  in  terms  that  left  the  authority  of  tradition  un- 
impaired, with  anathemas  against  the  Protestant  doctrine 
of  the  exclusive  authority  of  the  Scriptures,  the  Council 
proceeded  to  condemn  the  Protestant  doctrine  of  Justifi- 
cation, disregarding  the  arguments  of  the  evangelical 
Catholic  party  of  Contarini,  which  was  effectively  rep- 
resented in  the  debate.  The  success  which  Charles  V. 
was  gaining  in  the  Smalcaldic  war,  emboldened  the  ruling 
party  at  Trent  to  assert  the  old  dogmas  without  abate- 
ment or  concession.  The  theory  of  gradual  justification 
and  of  merit  was  followed  by  an  equally  positive  asser- 
tion of  the  old  doctrine  of  the  Sacraments.  The  history 
of  the  Council  is  inseparably  connected  with  the  relations 
of  the  Pope  to  Charles  V.  The  fullness  of  the  Empe- 
ror's triumph,  so  much  beyond  the  desires  of  Paul  III., 
led  to  the  attempted  transference  of  the  Council  to  Bo- 
logna ;  and  the  jealousy  that  was  felt  on  account  of  the 

observes  again:  "  The  authorities  are  brought  together  with  diligence,  are  well 
handled,  and  used  with  consummate  talent:  we  cannot  say  that  they  are  falsi- 
fied, or  that  they  are  frequently  or  materially  altered;    but  the  whole  work  Is 
"olored  with  a  tinge  of  decided  enmity  to  the  Papal  power." 
2.1 


402  THE   REFORMATION    IN    ITALY   AND   SPAIN. 

greatness  of  the  power  acquired  by  Charles  at  the  end  of 
the  war,  and  on  account  of  the  Interim  and  the  rest  of 
his  schemes  of  pacification,  defeated  the  ends  which  the 
Emperor  had  hoped  to  accomplish.  Not  to  pursue  the  sub- 
ject into  its  details,  the  result  of  all  of  the  negotiations 
and  struggles  of  the  Council  was  that  the  Papal  power 
escaped  without  curtailment.  Efforts  to  reduce  the  pre- 
rogatives of  the  Pope  were  ingeniously  baffled.  The 
Professio  Fidei,  or  brief  formula  of  subscription  to  the 
Tridentine  Creed,  contained  a  promise  of  obedience  to  the 
Pope.  To  this  formulary  all  ecclesiastics  and  teachers 
are  required  to  give  their  assent.  The  Roman  Catechism 
was  prepared  and  published  under  the  direction  of  the 
Pope,  by  the  authority  of  the  Council ;  the  Vulgate, 
which  had  been  declared  authoritative  in  controversies, 
was  issued  in  an  authorized  edition,  and  a  Breviary  and  a 
Missal  put  forth  for  universal  use.  The  Council  of  Trent 
did  a  great  work  for  the  education  of  the  clergy,  the 
better  organization  of  the  whole  hierarchical  body,  and 
the  discipline  of  the  Church.  Its  canons  of  reform  regu- 
lated the  duties  of  the  secular  and  regular  priesthood,  in- 
culcated the  obligations  of  bishops,  and  introduced  a  new 
order  and  efficiency  in  the  management  of  parishes. 

The  Creed  of  Trent  was  definite  and  intelligible  in 
its  denial  of  the  distinguishing  points  of  Protestantism ; 
but  on  the  questions  in  dispute  between  Augustinian  and 
semi-Pelagian  parties  in  the  Church,  it  was  indefinite  and 
studiously  ambiguous.  But  the  Council,  both  by  its  doc- 
trinal formulas  and  its  reformatory  canons,  contributed 
very  much  to  the  consolidation  of  the  Church  in  a  com- 
pact body.  It  was  no  longer  necessary  to  seek  for  the 
standard  of  orthodoxy  in  the  various  and  conflicting  writ- 
ings of  fathers  and  schoolmen,  or  in  the  multiplied  declar- 
ations of  the  Popes.  Such  a  standard  was  now  presented 
in  a  condensed  form  and  with  direct  reference  to  the  an- 
tagonistic doctrines  of  the  time. 


THE  INQUISITION.  403 

But  there  was  another  agency  of  a  different  character, 
which  was  set  in  motion  for  the  purpose  of  eradicating 
heresy.  This  was  the  Inquisition.  It  was  reorganized 
in  Italy  on  the  recommendation  of  Caraffa  ;  he  was  placed 
at  the  head  of  it ;  and  in  1555,  the  prime  author  and 
the  stern  chief  of  this  tribunal  became  Pope  under  the  name 
of  Paul  IV.  The  Inquisition  was  an  institution  which 
had  its  origin  in  the  early  days  of  the  thirteenth  century, 
for  the  extirpation  of  the  Albigensian  heresy.  It  is  a 
court,  the  peculiarity  of  which  lies  in  the  fact  that  it  is 
expressly  constituted  for  the  detection  and  punishment  of 
heretics,  and  supersedes,  wholly  or  in  part,  in  the  dis- 
charge of  this  function,  the  bishops  or  ordinary  author- 
ities of  the  Church.  It  is  thus  an  extraordinary  tribunal, 
with  its  own  rules  and  methods  of  proceeding,  its  own 
modes  of  eliciting  evidence.  .  The  Spanish  Inquisition,  in 
its  peculiar  form,  was  set  up  under  Ferdinand  and  Isa- 
bella, in  the  first  instance  for  the  purpose  of  discovering 
and  punishing  the  converts  from  Judaism  who  returned 
to  their  former  creed.  The  atrocities  of  which  it  was 
guilty  under  Torquemada  make  a  dark  and  bloody  page 
of  Spanish  history.1     It   grew  into  an  institution   coex- 

1  Llorente,  Hist.  Critique  de  V  Inquisition  d'  Espagne  (1817-18).  Llorentc  was 
Secretary  of  the  Inquisition,  and  having  had  the  hest  opportunities  for  the  in- 
vestigation of  its  history,  spent  several  years  in  the  preparation  of  his  work. 
The  French  translation  of  Pellier  was  made  under  the  author's  eye.  Llorente 
was  a  liberal  priest,  in  sympathy  with  the  aims  of  the  French  Revolution,  and 
a  supporter  of  the  Bonaparte  rule  in  Spain.  lie  believed  the  [nquisition  to  be 
''vicious  in  its  principle,  in  its  constitution,  and  in  its  laws"  (Pref.,  p.  x.),  and 
he  had  no  special  reverence  for  the  Popes.  Yet  at  the  time  of  the  composition 
of  this  work,  his  relation  to  the  Catholic  Church  was  not,  as  it  afterwards  be- 
came, antagonistic.  The  work  of  Llorente  has  been  unfavorably  criticised  by 
Roman  Catholic  writers,  especially  by  Hefele,  Der  Cardinal  Ximenes,  etc.  (2d 
ed.,  1851),  p.  241  seq.  Hefele  insists,  in  the  first  place,  that  the  Spanish  Inqui- 
sition was  predominantly  an  instrument  of  the  government,  and  that  the  Popes 
endeavored  to  check  the  severities  of  the  Holy  Office;  and,  secondly,  that  the 
charges  of  cruelty  brought  against  the  [nquisition  have  been  greatly  exaggerated. 
Hefele's  principal  point  isLlorente's  alleged  miscalculation  of  the  number  of  vic- 
tims of  the  Inquisition.  It  is  to  be  observed  that  most  of  his  animadversions 
upon  Llorente,  Hefele  is  obliged  to  sustain  by  information  which  Llorente  himself 
furnishes.    Hefele  considers  that  Prescott  has  erred  in  some  particulars,  through 


404  THE   REFORMATION   IN   ITALY   AND   SPAIN. 

tensive  with  the  kingdom,  with  an  extremely  tyrannical 
and  cruel  system  of  administration ;  and  was  so  inter- 
woven with  the  civil  government,  after  the  humbling  of 
the  nobles  and  the  destruction  of  liberty  in  the  cities, 
that  the  despotic  rule  of  Charles  V.  and  of  Philip  II.  could 
hardly  have  been  maintained  without  it.  It  was  an  en- 
gine for  stifling  sedition  as  well  as  heresy.  Hence  it  was 
defended  by  the  Spanish  sovereigns  against  objections  and 
complaints  of  the  Popes.  The  Inquisition,  in  the  form 
which  it  assumed  in  Italy,  under  the  auspices  of  Caraffa, 
differed  from  the  corresponding  institution  in  Spain,  in 
some  respects,  but  it  resembled  the  latter  in  superseding 
the  ordinary  tribunals  for  the  exercise  of  discipline,  and 
was  founded  on  the  same  general  principles.  Six  cardi- 
nals were  made  inquisitors  general,  with  power  to  consti- 
tute inferior  tribunals,  and  with  authority,  on  both  sides 
of  the  Alps,  to  incarcerate  and  try  all  suspected  persons 
of  whatever  rank  or  order.  The  terrible  machinery  of 
this  court  was  at  once  set  in  motion  in  the  States  of  the 
Church,  and  although  resistance  was  offered  in  Venice 
and  in  other  parts  of  Italy,  the  Inquisition  gradually  ex- 
tended its  sway  over  the  whole  peninsula.  The  result 
was  that  the  open  profession  of  Protestantism  was  in- 
stantly suppressed.  In  1542,  prior  to  the  formal  estab- 
lishment of  the  Holy  Office,  Ochino  and  Peter  Martyr, 
unwilling  longer  to  conceal  their  adhesion  to  the  Protes- 
tant faith,  and  being  no  longer  safe  in  Italy,  had  left  their 
country  and  found  refuge  with  the  Protestants  north  of 
the  Alps.  Equal  amazement  was  occasioned  when,  in 
1548,  Vergerio,  bishop  of  Capo  dTstria,  a  man  of  dis- 
tinction, who  had  been  employed  in  important  embassies 

tin'  influence  of  Llorente.  Prescott's  account  of  the  Inquisition  is  in  his  History 
it/the,  Reign  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  i.  eh.  vii.  Hefele  has  much  to  say  of 
the  disposition  of  the  .Tews  to  make  proselytes,  which  he.  considers  a  palliation 
of  the  course  taken  by  the  Inquisition.  But  the  vast  "lumber  of  insincere  Jew- 
ish converts  to  Christianity,  who  furnished  business  to  the  Inquisition,  proves 
that  the  "  proselyten-macherei  "  was  not  so  much  on  the  side  of  the  Jews. 


THE   INQUISITION.  405 

by  the  Pope,  followed  their  example.  A  multitude  of 
suspected  persons  fled  to  the  Grisons  and  to  other  parts  of 
Switzerland.  The  academies  at  Modena  and  elsewhere 
were  broken  up.  The  Duchess  of  Ferrara  was  compelled 
to  part  from  all  of  her  Protestant  friends,  and  dependants, 
and  was  herself  subjected  to  constraint^  by  her  husband. 
The  Protestant  church  of  Locarno  was  driven  out,  under 
circumstances  of  great  hardship,  and  found  an  asylum  in 
Switzerland.  Imprisonment,  torture,  and  the  flames  were 
everywhere  employed  for  the  destruction  of  heterodox 
opinions.  At  Venice  the  practice  was  to  take  the  unhappy 
victim  out  upon  the  sea  at  midnight  and  to  place  him  on  a 
plank,  between  two  boats,  which  were  rowed  in  opposite 
directions,  leaving  him  to  sink  beneath  the  waves.  Many 
distinguished  men  were  banished  ;  others,  as  Aonio  Palea- 
rio  and  Carnesecchi,  were  put  to  death.  The  Waldensian 
settlement  in  Calabria  was  barbarously  massacred.  One 
essential  part  of  the  work  of  the  Inquisition,  and  a  part 
in  which  it  attained  to  surprising  success,  was  the  sup- 
pression of  heretical  books.  The  booksellers  were  obliged 
to  purge  their  stock  to  an  extent  that  was  almost  ruinous 
to  their  business.  So  vigilant  was  the  detective  police  of 
the  Inquisition,  that  of  the  thousands  of  copies  of  the 
evangelical  book  on  the  "  Benefits  of  Christ,"  it  was  long 
supposed  that  not  one  was  left.1  It  is  only  within  a  re- 
cent period  that  a  few  surviving  copies  have  come  to  light. 
As  a  part  of  the  repressive  system  of  Caraffa,  the  "  In- 
dex "  of  prohibited  books  was  established.  Besides  the 
particular  authors  and  books  which  were  condemned,  there 
was  a  list  of  more  than  sixty  printers,  all  of  whose  pub- 
lications were  prohibited.  Caraffa  put  upon  the  Index 
the  Consilium  or  Advice,  which  in  connection  with  Sadolet 
and  others  he  himself  had  offered  to  Paul  III.,  on  the 
subject  of  a  reformation,  and  in  which  ecclesiastical  abuses 

1  Macaulay,  in  his  Review  of  Ranke's  History  of  the  Popes  (Ed.  Rev.,  1840), 
said  of  this  book:  "It  is  now  as  hopelessly  lost  as  the  second  decade  of  Livy." 


406  THE   REFORMATION   IN   ITALY   AND   SPAIN. 

had  been  freely  censured.1  Later,  under  the  auspices  of 
Sixtus  V.,  the  "  Index  Expurgate- rius  "  arose,  for  the  con- 
demnation, not  of  entire  works,  but  of  particular  passages 
in  permitted  books.  The  sweeping  persecution  which  was 
undertaken  by  the  Catholic  Reaction  did  not  spare  the 
evangelical  Catholics,  whose  views  of  Justification  were 
obnoxious  to  the  faction  that  had  gained  the  ascendency. 
They  were  regarded  and  treated  as  little  better  than 
avowed  enemies  of  the  Church.  Even  Cardinal  Pole, 
who  had  forsaken  England  rather  than  accede  to  the 
measures  of  Henry  VIII.,  and  had  been  made  Papal  Leg- 
ate and  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  under  Mary,  was  in 
disgrace  at  the  time  of  his  death,  which  was  simultaneous 
with  that  of  the  Queen.  Cardinal  Morone,  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Modena,  charged  with  circulating  Paleario's 
book  on  the  Atonement,  with  denying  the  merit  of  good 
works,  and  with  like  offenses,  was  imprisoned  for  about 
two  years,  until  the  death  of  Paul  IV.,  in  1559,  set  him 
free.  The  characteristic  spirit  of  the  dominant  party  is 
seen  in  the  impracticable  demand  of  this  Pope  that  the 
sequestered  property  of  the  monasteries  in  England  should 
be  restored.  This  party  succeeded  in  virtually  extin- 
guishing Protestantism  in  Italy. 

In  Spain  a  literary  spirit  had  early  arisen  from  the  in- 
fluence of  the  Arabic  schools.2  The  Erasmian  culture 
found  a  cordial  reception.  "  The  Complutensian  Poly- 
glot "  was  an  edition  of  the  Scriptures  that  reflects  much 
credit  upon  Cardinal  Ximenes,  by  whom  it  was  issued. 
Yet,  lie  was  opposed  I  i  rendering  the  Bible  into  the  ver- 
nacular of  the  people,  and  was  a  supporter  of  the  In- 
quisition. The  resentment  which  this  odious  tribunal 
awakened,  wherever  a  love  of  freedom  lingered,  predis- 

1  For  the  proof  of  this,  sec  McCrie,  p.  61. 

2  McCrie,  History  of  (Ik  l^rogress  and  Suppression  of  the  Reformation  in 
Spain  in  the  Sixteenth  Century  (new  ed.,  1856).'  This  work  is  the  companion 
of  the  History  of  the  Iteformation  in  Italy,  and  of  scarcely  less  value. 


SPANISH   PROTESTANTS.  407 

posed  some  to  the  acceptance  of  the  doctrine  which  it 
persecuted.  The  intercourse  with  Germany  and  the 
Netherlands,  into  which  many  Spaniards,  both  laymen 
and  clergy,  were  brought  from  the  common  relation  of 
these  countries  to  Charles  V.,  made  the  Protestant  doc- 
trines familiar  to  many,  of  whom  not  a  few  regarded 
them  with  favor.  It  was  observed  that  Spanish  ecclesias- 
tics who  sojourned  in  England  after  the  marriage  of 
Philip  II.  to  Mary,  came  back  to  their  country,  tinged 
with  the  heresy  which  they  had  gone  forth  to  oppose. 
The  war  of  Charles  V.  against  Clement  VII.,  which  led 
to  the  sack  of  Rome  and  the  imprisonment  of  the  Pon- 
tiff, and  the  presence  of  a  great  body  of  Spanish  clergy 
and  nobles  at  the  Diet  of  Augsburg,  where  the  Protes- 
tants presented  their  noble  confession,  were  events  not 
without  a  favorable  influence  in  the  same  direction.  As 
early  as  1519,  the  famous  printer  of  Basel,  John  Froben, 
sent  to  Spain  a  collection  of  Luther's  tracts  in  Latin,  and 
during  the  next  year  the  Reformer's  commentary  on  the 
Galatians,  in  which  his  doctrine  was  fully  exhibited, 
was  translated  into  Spanish.  Spanish  translations  of  the 
Bible  were  printed  at  Antwerp  and  Venice,  and  notwith- 
standing the  watchfulness  of  the  Inquisition,  copies  of 
them,  as  well  as  other  publications  of  the  Protestants, 
were  introduced  into  Spain  in  large  numbers.  Some 
Spaniards  perished  abroad,  martyrs  to  the  Protestant 
faith ;  as  Jay  me  Enzinas,  a  cultivated  scholar,  who  was 
burned  at  Rome  in  1546,  and  Juan  Diaz,  who  was  assas- 
sinated in  Germany  by  a  fanatical  brother,  who  had  tried 
in  vain  to  convert  him,  and  who,  having  accomplished  his 
act  of  bloody  fratricide,  escaped  into  Italy  and  was  pro- 
tected from  punishment.  It  was  at  Seville  and  Valla- 
dolid  that  Protestantism  obtained  most  adherents.  Those 
who  adopted  the  reformed  interpretation  of  the  Gospel, 
generally  contented  themselves  with  promulgating  it, 
without  an  open  attack  on  the  Catholic  theology  or  the 


408  THE   REFORMATION  IN  ITALY   AND   SPAIN. 

Church.  It  was  the  doctrine  of  justification  by  faith 
alone  which,  here  as  in  Italy,  gained  most  currency.  In 
Seville  the  evangelical  views  were  introduced  by  Rod- 
rigo  de  Valero,  a  man  of  rank  and  fashion,  whose  char- 
acter had  been  transformed  by  the  reception  of  them,  and 
who  promulgated  them  in  conversation  and  in  expositions 
of  the  Scripture  to  private  circles.  He  was  saved  from 
the  flames  only  by  the  favor  of  persons  in  authority,  but 
was  imprisoned  in  a  convent.  The  most  eminent  preach- 
ers of  the  city,  Dr.  John  Egidius,  and  Constantine  Ponce 
de  la  Fuente,  who  had  been  chaplain  of  the  Emperor, 
enlisted  in  the  new  movement.  The  predominant  opinion 
in  Seville  was  on  the  side  of  this  real,  though  covert 
Protestantism.  It  found  a  reception,  also,  in  cloisters  of 
the  city,  especially  in  one  belonging  to  the  Hierony mites. 
Both  in  Seville  and  Valladolid  there  were  secret  churches, 
fully  organized,  and  meeting  in  privacy  for  Protestant 
worship.  In  Valladolid  the  Protestant  cause  had  a  dis- 
tinguished leader  in  the  person  of  Augustine  Cazalla,  the 
Imperial  chaplain,  who  was  put  to  death  by  the  Inquisi- 
tion in  1559.  There  were  probably  two  thousand  persons 
in  various  parts  of  Spain  who  were  united  in  the  Prot- 
estant faith  and  held  private  meetings  for  a  number  of 
years.  A  large  proportion  of  them  were  persons  dis- 
tinguished for  their  rank  or  learning.  The  discovery  of 
these  secret  associations  at  Seville  and  Valladolid  stimu- 
lated the  Inquisition  to  redoubled  exertions.  The  flight 
of  many  facilitated  the  detection  of  others  who  remained. 
The  dungeons  were  filled  and  the  terrible  implements  of 
torture  were  used  to  extort  confessions  not  only  from  men, 
but  from  refined  and  delicately  trained  women.  In  1559 
and  1560,  two  great  autos  dafe  were  held  in  the  two 
cities  where  heresy  had  taken  the  firmest  root.  The  cere- 
monies were  arranged  with  a  view  to  strike  terror  to  the 
hearts  of  the  sufferers  themselves  and  of  the  great  throngs 
that  gathered  as  spectators  of  the  scene.    The  condemned 


EXTIRPATION    OF   PROTESTANTISM   IN    SPAIN.  409 

were  burned  alive,  those  who  would  accept  the  offices  of 
a  priest,  however,  having  the  privilege  of  being  strangled 
before  their  bodies  were  cast  into  the  fire.  The  King 
and  royal  family,  the  great  personages  of  the  court,  of 
both  sexes,  gave  countenance  to  the  proceedings  by  their 
presence.  Similar  autos  dafe  occurred  in  various  other 
places,  with  every  circumstance  calculated  to  inspire  fear 
in  the  beholders.  The  officers  of  the  Inquisition  were  so 
active  and  vigilant,  and  so  merciless,  that  there  was  no 
hope  for  any  who  were  inclined  to  Protestant  opinions, 
save  in  flight ;  and  even  this  was  difficult.  Covetousness 
allied  itself  to  fanaticism,  for  the  forfeiture  of  all  prop- 
erty was  a  part  of  the  penalty  invariably  visited  upon 
heresy.  Thus  Protestantism  was  eradicated.1  The  re- 
straints laid  upon  liberty  of  teaching  smothered  the  intel- 
lectual life  of  the  country. 

In  Spain,  as  in  Italy,  the  persecution  did  not  spare  the 
Evangelical  Catholics.  Among  these  was  Bartolome  de 
Carranza,  Archbishop  of  Toledo  and  Primate  of  Spain, 
who  had  stood  among  the  advocates  of  gratuitous  justifi- 
cation at  the  Council  of  Trent.  He  had  accompanied 
Philip  II.  to  England  and  taken  part  in  examining  Prot- 
estants who  perished  at  the  stake  under  Mary.  He 
was  denounced  to  the  Inquisition  and  imprisoned  at  Valla- 
dolid.  His  intimacy  with  Pole,  and  with  Morone,  Fla- 
minio,  and  other  eminent  Italians  who  were  inclined  to 
evangelical  doctrine,  was  one  fact  brought  up  against  him. 
His  catechism,  partly  for  its  alleged  leaning,  in  some 
points,  to  the  Lutheran  theology,  and  partly  because  it 
was  written  in  the  vulgar  tongue,  was  the  principal  basis 
of  the  accusation.  He  was  charged  with  not  having  ac 
cused  before  the  Holy  Office  leading  Spanish  Protestants, 
of  whose  sentiments  he  had  privately  expressed  his  disap- 
probation.    At  the  end  of  seven  years  he  was  taken  to 

1  For  details  of  persecution,  see  De  Castros,  Spanish  Protestants  (London, 
1851). 


410      THE  REFORMATION  IN  ITALY  AND  SPAIN.' 

Rome,  and  after  various  delays,  Gregory  XIII.,  in  1576, 
pronounced  sentence,  finding  him  violently  suspected  of 
heresy,  prohibiting  his  catechism,  requiring  him  to  abjure 
sixteen  Lutheran  articles,  and  suspending  him  from  his 
office  for  five  years.  At  the  expiration  of  this  time,  after 
having  been  for  eighteen  years  under  some  species  of  con- 
finement, he  died.  A  part  of  the  material  of  accusation 
against  Carranza  was  derived  from  the  words  of  consola- 
tion which  he  had  addressed  to  the  dying  Emperor, 
Charles  V.,  at  the  convent  of  Yuste.  Kneeling  at  his 
bedside,  the  Archbishop,  holding  up  a  crucifix,  exclaimed : 
"  Behold  Him  who  answers  for  all !  There  is  no  more 
sin  ;  all  is  forgiven  !  "  His  words  gave  offense  to  some 
who  were  present.  Villabra,  the  Emperor's  favorite 
preacher,  who  followed,  reminded  his  royal  master  that  as 
he  was  born  on  the  day  of  St.  Matthew,  so  he  was  to  die 
on  that  of  St.  Matthias.  With  such  intercessors,  it  was 
added,  he  had  nothing  to  fear.  "  Thus,"  Avrites  Mignet, 
"  the  two  doctrines  that  divided  the  world  in  the  age  of 
Charles  V.,  were  once  more  brought  before  him  on  the 
bed  of  death."  *  Besides  the  Archbishop  of  Toledo,  not 
less  than  eight  Spanish  bishops,  of  whom  the  most  had 
sat  in  the  Council  of  Trent,  and  twenty-five  doctors  of 
theology,  among  whom  were  persons  of  the  highest  emi- 
nence for  learning,  were  likewise  arraigned,  and  most  of 
them  obliged  to  make  some  retraction  or  submit  to  some 
public  humiliation. 

It  is  a  remarkable  evidence  of  the  vitality  of  the  Cath- 
olic reaction  that  it  went  forward  in  spite  of  the  want  of 
active  sympathy  on  the  part  of  certain  popes  with  its 
favorite  measures,  or  the  inconsistency  of  their  policy  with 
its  spirit  and  aims.  What  the  new  movement  required, 
and  the  result  towards  which  it  tended,  was  the  union  of 
the  Catholic  powers ;  especially  an  alliance  of  the  Pope 
and  Spain.     When  Caraffa  at  the  age  of  seventy-nine  as- 

l  Robertson,  Hist,  of  Charles  V.  (Prescott's  ed.),  iil-  491,  492. 


THE    CATHOLIC   REACTION.  411 

cended  the  Papal  throne,  his  strongest  passion  seemed  to 
be  his  hatred  of  Charles  V.  and  the  Spaniards.  With  all 
his  zeal  for  the  reform  of  which  he  had  been  one  of  the 
earliest  promoters,  he  advanced  his  relatives  to  nigh  sta- 
tions, not  from  that  selfish  ambition  from  which  nepotism 
had  previously  sprung,  but  in  order  to  carry  out'  his 
schemes  of  hostility  to  Spain.  His  stoutest  defenders 
against  Alva  were  Germans,  most  of  whom  were  Protes- 
tants ;  he  even  invoked  the  help  of  the  Turks.  The  de- 
feat of  his  French  allies  at  St.  Quentin,  followed  by  the 
complete  success  of  Alva,  forced  upon  him  a  change  of 
policy.  Forthwith  he  resumed  with  absorbing  energy  his 
enterprises  of  reform,  and  discarded  his  relations,  whom 
he  had  found  to  be  treacherous.  This  was  the  end  of  the 
nepotism  which  so  long  had  brought  disgrace  and  weak- 
ness upon  the  Papal  office.  But  the  war  that  he  kindled 
aided  the  cause  of  Protestantism  in  France  and  in  the 
Netherlands,  and  also  in  England.  His  political  schemes 
were  partly  responsible  for  his  arrogant  treatment  of  Eliza- 
beth, whom  he  did  not  wish  to  marry  Philip,  and  whom  he 
did  wish  Alary  Stuart,  the  candidate  of  the  Guises,  to  sup- 
plant. In  Pius  IV.  (1559-65)  we  have  a  pontiff  who  per- 
sonally did  not  sympathize  much  with  the  Inquisition,  yet 
left  it  to  pursue  its  course  unhindered.  He  labored  to 
unite  the  Catholic  world,  and  succeeded  in  pacifying  the 
divisions  in  the  Council  of  Trent  by  skillful  negotiations 
with  the  different  sovereigns.  Pius  V.  (1566-72)  was  a 
devoted  representative  of  the  rigid  party,  was  zealous  on 
the  one  hand  for  the  reformation  of  the  Papal  court,  and 
on  the  other  for  the  destruction  of  heretics.  He  induced 
Duke  Cosmo  of  Florence  to  deliver  up  to  him  Carnesecchi, 
an  accomplished  literary  man,  who,  influenced  by  Valdez, 
had  early  favored  Protestantism,  and  had  him  brought  to 
Rome,  where  he  was  beheaded  and  his  body  committed  to 
the  flames.1     He  approved  of  Alva's  doings  in  the  Neth- 

l  McCrie,  Ref.  in  Italy,  p.  20. 


412  THE   REFORMATION  IN  ITALY   AND   SPAIN.  * 

erlands.  Gradually  the  Papacy  came  to  join  hands  with 
Spain  in  the  grand  effort  to  overcome  Protestantism. 
Sixtus  V.  excommunicated  Henry  IV.  of  France  (1585). 
He  lent  his  most  earnest  cooperation  to  the  effort  to  con- 
quer England  by  the  Armada.  He  was  heart  and  soul 
with  Guise  and  the  League,  and  upon  the  assassination  of 
Guise,  excommunicated  Henry  III.  If  he  listened  favor- 
ably to  the  efforts  made  to  induce  him  to  absolve  and 
recognize  Henry  of  Navarre,  his  inclinations  in  this  di- 
rection were  overcome  by  the  energetic  remonstrances  of 
Philip.1  It  was  the  hostile  attitude  of  the  Papacy  that 
strongly  affected  the  Catholic  adherents  of  Navarre,  and 
confirmed  them  in  the  disposition  to  require  of  him  a  pro- 
fession of  the  Catholic  faith. 

Nothing  can  be  more  striking  than  the  change  in  the 
intellectual  spirit  of  Italy,  as  we  approach  the  end  of  the 
sixteenth  century.2  The  old  ardor  in  the  study  and  imi- 
tation of  the  ancients  has  passed  away.  Even  the  rever- 
ence that  spared  the  architectural  remains  of  antiquity  is 
supplanted,  in  the  mind  of  Sixtus  V.,  for  example,  by  the 
desire  to  rear  edifices  that  may  rival  them.  A  zeal  for 
independent  investigation,  especially  in  natural  science, 
takes  the  place  of  antiquarian  scholarship  ;  but  this  new 
scientific  spirit,  which  often  took  a  speculative  turn,  was 
checked  and  repressed  by  the  ecclesiastical  rulers.  Loy- 
alty to  the  Church,  and  a  religious  temper,  in  the  strict 
form  which  the  Catholic  restoration  engendered,  pene- 
trated society.  Poetry,  painting,  and  music  were  at  once 
renovated  and  moulded  by  the  religious  influence.  Tasso, 
who  chose  a  pious  crusader  for  the  hero  of  his  poem,  the 
school  of  Caracci,  Domenichino,  and  Guido  Reni,  Pales- 
trina,  the  great  composer,  suggest  the  revolution  in  public 
feeling  and  taste  in  this  age,  in  contrast  with  the  age  of 

1  Ranke,  History  of  the  Popes,  i.  387  seq.,  ii.  128  seq.,  iii.  115  seq.     Hiibner, 
Life  of  Sixtus  V.  (1872). 

2  Ranke,  Hist,  of  the  Popes,  i.  493. 


INFLUENCE    OF    THE   JESUITS.  413 

the  Renaissance.  The  papal  court,  in  its  restored  strict- 
ness and  sobriety,  manifested  its  entire  subjection  to  the 
new  movement.  In  a  character  like  Carlo  Borromeo,  the 
counter-reformation  appears  in  a  characteristic  but  pe- 
culiarly attractive  light.  Of  noble  birth,  and  with  temp- 
tations to  sensual  indulgence  thrown  in  his  path,  he  de- 
voted himself  to  a  religious  life  with  unwavering  fidelity. 
The  nephew  of  Pius  V.,  offices  of  the  highest  responsi- 
bility were  forced  upon  him,  which  he  discharged  with  so 
exemplary  diligence  and  faithfulness,  that  such  as  were 
inclined  to  envy  or  to  censure  were  compelled  to  applaud. 
But  he  welcomed  the  day  when  he  could  lay  them  down, 
and  give  himself  wholly  to  his  diocese  of  Milan,  where  he 
was  archbishop.  His  untiring  perseverance  in  works  of 
charity  and  reform,  his  visitations  to  remote,  mountainous 
villages,  in  the  care  of  his  flock,  his  zeal  for  education,  his 
devoutness,  caused  him  to  be  styled,  in  the  bull  that  can- 
onized him,  an  angel  in  human  form.  His  exertions  in 
making  proselytes,  and  his  willingness  to  persecute  heresy, 
are  less  agreeable  to  contemplate ;  but  they  were  essential 
features  of  the  Catholic  reaction. 

The  Jesuits  first  established  themselves  in  force  in  Italy, 
and  in  Portugal,  Spain,  and  their  colonies.  "  Out  of  the 
visionary  schemes  of  Ignatius,"  says  Ranke,  "  arose  an  in- 
stitution of  singularly  practical  tendency  ;  out  of  the  con- 
versions wrought  by  his  asceticism,  an  institution  framed 
with  all  the  just  and  accurate  calculation  of  worldly  pru- 
dence." The  education  of  youth,  especially  those  of 
higher  rank,  quickly  fell,  to  a  large  extent,  into  their 
hands.  Their  system  of  intellectual  training  was  accord- 
ing to  a  strict  method ;  but  their  schools  were  pervaded 
by  their  peculiar  religious  spirit.  It  was  largely  through 
their  influence  that  the  profane  or  secular  tone  of  culture, 
that  had  prevailed  in  the  cities  of  Italy,  was  superseded 
by  a  culture  in  which  reverence  for  religion  and  the 
Church  was  a  vital  element.     From  the  two  peninsulas 


414  THE   REFORMATION   IN   ITALY   AND  SPAIN., 

the  new  order  extended  its  influence  into  the  other  coun- 
tries of  Europe.  They  formed  a  great  standing  army,  in 
the  service  of  the  Pope,  for  the  propagation  of  Catholi- 
cism. The  University  of  Vienna  was  placed  under  their 
direction  ;  they  established  themselves  at  Cologne  and 
Ingolstadt  and  Prague,  and  from  these  centres  operated 
with  great  success  in  the  Austrian  dominions,  the  Rhen- 
ish provinces,  and  other  parts  of  Germany.  The  Duke 
of  Bavaria,  partly  from  worldly  and  partly  from  religious 
motives,  enlisted  warmly  in  the  cause  of  the  Catholic  re- 
action, and  made  himself  its  champion.  In  the  ecclesias- 
tical states  of  Germany,  the  spirit  of  Catholicism  was 
reawakened,  and  the  toleration  promised  to  Protestants 
by  the  Peace  of  Augsburg,  was  frequently  violated. 
The  Popes,  in  this  period,  were  liberal  in  their  conces- 
sions to  the  Catholic  princes,  who  found  their  profit  in 
helping  forward  the  reactionary  movement.  In  the  last 
quarter  of  the  sixteenth  century,  mainly  by  the  labors  of 
the  Jesuits,  and  by  the  violent  measures  which  they  in- 
stigated, the  tide  was  turned  against  Protestantism  in 
Southern  Germany,  in  Bohemia,  Moravia,  Poland,  and 
Hungary.  In  these  countries,  Protestantism  had,  on 
the  whole,  gained  the  ascendency.  Together  with  Bel- 
gium and  France,  they  constituted  "  the  great  debatable 
land,"  where  the  two  confessions  struggled  for  the 
mastery.  In  all  of  them,  Catholicism,  with  its  new 
forces,  was  triumphant.  The  Jesuits  did  much  to  pro- 
mote that  increased  excitement  of  Catholic  feeling  in 
France,  which  showed  itself  in  the  slaughter  of  St. 
Bartholomew  and  the  wars  of  the  League.  From 
Douay,  the  establishment  founded  by  Cardinal  William 
Allen,  they  sent  out  their  emissaries  into  England. 
The  order  was  active  in  Sweden,  and,  for  a  time,  had 
some  prospect  of  winning  that  kingdom  back  to  the 
Catholic  fold.  Wherever  they  did  not  prevail,  they 
sharpened  the  mutual   antagonism   of   the  rival  confes- 


ARREST  OF  THE  PROGRESS  OF  PROTESTANTISM.   415 

sions.  The  progress  of  the  Catholic  restoration  was 
aided,  especially  in  Germany,  by  the  quarrels  of  Protes- 
tant theologians.  The  mutual  hostility  of  Lutheran 
and  Calvinist  appeared,  in  some  cases,  to  outweigh  their 
common  opposition  to  Rome. 

The  question  has  often  been  asked,  why,  after  so  rapid 
an  advance  of  Protestantism  for  a  half  century,  a  limit 
should  then  have  been  set  to  its  progress  ?  Why  was  it 
unable  to  overstep  the  bounds  which  it  reached  in  the  first 
age  of  its  existence  ?  Macaulay  has  handled  this  ques- 
tion in  a  spirited  essay,  in  which,  with  certain  reasons, 
which  are  pertinent  and  valuable,  is  coupled  a  singular  de- 
nial that  the  knowledge  of  religion  is  progressive,  or  at  all 
dependent  upon  the  general  enlightenment  of  the  human 
mind.  Apart  from  his  paradoxical  speculation  on  this 
last  point,  his  statement  of  the  grounds  of  the  arrest  of 
the  progress  of  Protestantism,  though  eloquent  and 
valuable,  is  quite  incomplete.  The  principal  causes  of 
this  event  we  deem  to  be  the  following  :  — 

1.  The  ferment  that  attended  the  rise  of  Protestantism 
must  eventually  lead  to  a  crystallizing  of  parties  ;  and 
this  must  raise  up  a  barrier  in  the  way  of  the  further 
spread  of  the  new  doctrine.  Protestantism  was  a  move- 
ment of  reform,  arising  within  the  Church.  At  the  out- 
set, multitudes  stood,  in  relation  to  it,  in  the  attitude  of 
inquirers.  They  were  more  or  less  favorably  inclined  to 
it.  What  course  they  would  take,  might  depend  on  the 
influences  to  which  they  would  happen  to  be  exposed. 
They  were  not  immovably  attached  to  the  old  system  ; 
they  were  open  to  persuasion.  But  as  the  conflict  became 
warm,  men  were  more  and  more  rjrompted  to  take  sides, 
and  to  range  themselves  under  one  or  the  other  banner. 
This  period  of  fluctuation  and  conversion  would  naturally 
come  to  an  end.  As  soon  as  the  spirit  of  party  was  thus 
awakened,  it  formed  an  obstacle  to  the  further  progress  of 


416  THE   REFORMATION   IN   ITALY   AND   SPAIN. 

the  new  opinions  ;  for  this  spirit  communicated  itself  from 
father  to  son. 

2.  The  political  arrangements  which  were  adopted  in 
different  countries,  in  consequence  of  the  religious  division, 
all  tended  to  confine  Protestantism  within  the  limits  which 
it  had  early  attained.  This  is  a  point  of  great  importance, 
and  is  not  noticed  by  Macaulay.  In  Germany,  the  nego- 
tiations and  disputes  produced  by  the  religious  contest, 
issued  in  the  adoption  of  the  principle,  "  cujus  regio,  ejus 
religio;"  the  religion  of  the  State  shall  conform  to  that 
of  the  prince.  This  principle,  however,  would  not  have 
availed  to  arrest  Protestantism.  But  the  "  ecclesiastical 
reservation"  did  thus  avail,  since  the  conversion  of  an 
ecclesiastical  ruler  to  the  new  faith  was  attended  with  no 
important  gain  to  the  Protestant  cause :  he  must  vacate 
his  office.  The  whole  tendency  of  political  arrangements 
in  Germany  was  to  build  up  a  wall  of  separation  between 
the  two  confessions,  and  to  protect  the  territory  of  each 
from  the  encroachments  of  the  other.  It  must  be  remem- 
bered that  the  spirit  of  propagandism  did  not,  generally 
speaking,  characterize  Protestantism.  The  Protestants, 
especially  in  Germany,  were  satisfied  if  they  could  be  left 
to  develop,  without  interference,  their  own  system.  The 
utmost  limit  of  their  demand  was  room  for  its  natural 
expansion.1  In  the  Netherlands,  the  separation  of  the 
Walloon  provinces  from  the  other  states,  and  the  ad- 
herence of  the  former  to  Spain,  could  have  no  other  result 
than  to  perpetuate  their  connection  with  the  Catholic 
Church.  In  France,  the  civil  wars  and  the  political  set- 
tlement to  which  they  led,  resulted  in  the  formation  of 
the  Huguenots  into  a  compact  body,  formidable  for 
defense,  but  powerless  for  the  propagation  of  their  faith. 

1  "  Wie  wir  ofter  bemerkt,  der  Protestantismus  ist  nicht  bekehrender  Natur. 
Es  wird  sich  jedes  Beitritts,  der  aus  Ueberzeugung  entspringt,  ala  eines  Fort- 
ganges  seiner  guten  Sache  freuen:  sonst  aber  schon  zufrieden  pein,  wenn  nur 
selber  verstattet  ist,  sich  ungeirrt  von  fremder  Einwirkung  zu  cnhvickeln. 
Dies  war  es,  wonach  die  evangelischen  Fiirsten  vom  ersten  Augenblick  an  streb- 
ten." — Ranke,  Deutsche  Geschichte,  v.  278. 


AKREST  OF  THE  PROGRESS  OF  PROTESTANTISM.   417 

3.  The  counter-reformation  in  the  Catholic  Church,  by 
removing  the  gross  abuses  which  had  been  the  object  of 
righteous  complaint,  took  a  formidable  weapon  from  the 
hands  of  the  Protestants.  At  the  same  time,  the  apathy 
of  the  old  Church  was  broken  up,  the  attention  of  its 
rulers  was  no  longer  absorbed  in  ambitious  schemes  of 
politics,  or  in  the  gratification  of  a  literary  taste,  which 
made  the  Papal  court  a  rendezvous  of  authors  and  artists  ; 
but  a  profound  zeal  for  the  doctrines  and  forms  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  religion  pervaded  and  united  all  ranks 
of  its  disciples. 

4.  While  this  concentration  of  forces  was  taking 
place  on  the  Catholic  side,  Protestants  more  and  more 
wasted  their  strength  in  contests  with  one  another. 
Their  mutual  intolerance  facilitated  the  advance  of  their 
common  enemy.  Moreover,  the  warm,  religious  feeling 
that  animated  the  early  Reformers  and  the  princes  who 
defended  their  cause,  passed  away  to  a  considerable 
degree,  and  was  succeeded  by  a  theological  rigidness,  or 
a  selfish,  political  spirit.  The  appearance  of  such  a  char- 
acter as  Maurice  of  Saxony,  in  so  marked  contrast  with 
the  Electors  who  listened  to  the  voice  of  Luther,  and 
even  with  the  Landgrave  Philip  of  Hesse,  indicates  the 
advent  of  an  era  when  a  more  politic  and  selfish  temper 
displaces  the  simplicity  of  religious  principle.  Queen 
Elizabeth,  with  her  lukewarm  attachment  to  the  Refor- 
mation, and  her  mendacious,  crooked  policy,  is  a  pooi 
representative  of  the  religious  character  of  Protestantism. 
How  much  more  intense  and  consistent  was  the  religious 
zeal  of  the  secular  leader  of  the  Catholic  restoration, 
Philip  II.  !  The  ardor  of  Protestants  spent  itself  in 
domestic  discord,  at  the  very  time  when  the  ardor  of 
Catholicism  was  exerted,  with  undivided  energy,  against 
them. 

5.  The  better  organization  of  the  Catholic  Church  was 
a  signal   advantage   in   the   battle  with    Protestantism, 

27 


418    COUNTER-REFORMATION   IN   THE   CATHOLIC   CHURCH. 

which  was  divided  into  as  many  churches  as  there  were 
political  communities  that  embraced  the  new  doctrine. 
On  the  Catholic  side  there  could  be  a  plan  of  operations, 
having  respect  not  to  a  single  country  alone,  a  separate 
portion  of  the  field  of  combat,  but  formed  upon  a  survey 
of  the  whole  situation,  and  carried  out  with  sole  reference 
to  a  united  success. 

6.  Another  source  of  power  in  the  Catholic  Church 
grew  out  of  the  habit  of  availing  itself  of  all  varieties 
of  religious  temperament,  of  turning  to  the  best  account 
the  wide  diversity  of  talents  and  character  which  is  de- 
veloped within  its  fold.  The  dispassionate  and  astute 
politician,  the  laborious  scholar,  the  subtle  and  skillful 
polemic,  the  fiery  enthusiast,  are  none  of  them  rejected, 
but  all  of  them  assigned  to  a  work  suited  to  their  respec- 
tive capacities.  Men  as  dissimilar  as  Bellarmine  and 
Ignatius  were  engaged  in  a  common  cause,  and  were 
even  within  the  same  fraternity.  This  custom  of  the 
Catholic  Church  is  often  attributed  to  a  profound  policy. 
But  whatever  sagacity  it  may  indicate,  it  is  probably  due 
less  to  the  calculations  of  a  far-sighted  policy,  than  to 
an  habitual  principle,  or  way  of  thinking  in  religion, 
which  is  inherent  in  the  genius  of  Catholicism.  It  has 
been  justly  observed  that  men  of  the  type  of  Wesley, 
who,  among  Protestants,  have  been  forced  to  become 
the  founders  of  distinct  religious  bodies,  would  have 
found  within  the  Catholic  Church,  had  they  been  born 
there,  hospitable  treatment  and  congenial  employment. 
The  host  that  was  marshalled  under  the  command  of 
the  Pope,  for  the  defense  of  Catholicism,  was  like  an 
army  that  includes  light-armed  skirmishers  and  heavy- 
armed  artillerymen,  swift  cavalry,  and  spies  who  can  pen- 
etrate the  camp  and  pry  into  the  counsels  of  the  enemy. 

7.  It  cannot  be  denied  that  in  Southern  Europe  there 
was  manifested  a  more  rooted  attachment  to  the  Roman 
Catholic  system,  than  existed  among  the  nations  which 


THE  CATHOLIC  REACTION.  419 

adopted  the  Reformation.  In  Germany,  the  common 
people  gladly  heard  the  teaching  of  Luther.  Protes- 
tantism there  had  much  of  the  character  of  a  national 
movement.  In  Italy  and  Spain,  it  was  mainly  the  let- 
tered class  that  received  the  new  doctrine.  Below  a 
certain  grade  of  culture,  few  were  affected  by  it.  Even 
in  France,  which  had  something  like  a  middle  position 
between  the  two  currents  of  opinion,  it  was  the  intel- 
ligent middle  class,  together  with  scholars  and  nobles, 
that  furnished  to  Protestantism  its  adherents.  In  Italy 
and  Spain,  the  new  doctrine  did  not  reach  down  to  the 
springs  of  national  life.  Moreover,  it  is  remarkable  that 
in  these  nations  which  remained  Catholic,  so  many  who 
went  so  far  as  to  receive  the  evangelical  doctrine  substan- 
tially as  it  was  held  by  the  Protestants,  were  not  im- 
pelled to  cast  off  the  polity  or  worship  of  the  old 
Church.  This  circumstance  is  far  from  being  wholly 
due  to  timidity.  The  outward  forms  of  Protestantism 
were  less  necessary,  less  congenial  to  them  ;  the  outward 
forms  of  Catholicism  were  less  obnoxious.  Even  in 
France,  this  same  phenomenon  appeared  in  the  circle 
that  early  gathered  about  Lefevre  and  Briconnet,  and 
especially  in  Margaret  of  Navarre  and  her  followers. 
The  doctrine  of  gratuitous  salvation  through  the  merits 
of  Christ,  the  inwardness  of  piety,  as  fostered  by  the 
evangelical  doctrine,  were  grateful  to  them  ;  but  they 
were  not  moved  to  renounce  the  government  or  the 
sacraments  of  the  Church,  or  to  affiliate  themselves  with 
the  Protestant  body. 

When  all  these  circumstances  are  contemplated,  it  will 
cease  to  be  a  matter  of  wonder  that  Protestantism,  after 
its  first  great  victories  were  won,  halted  in  its  course  and 
was  at  length  shut  up  within  fixed  boundaries. 

But  the  Catholic  party  were  destined  to  suffer  from 
internal  discord.  Before  the  close  of  the  century,  the  fol- 
lowers of  Ignatius,  who  were  semi-Pelagian  in  their  the- 


420    COUNTER-REFORMATION   IN   THE   CATHOLIC    CHURCH. 

ology,  became  involved  in  a  hot  strife  with  the  Dominicans, 
who  in  common  with  their  master,  Aquinas,  were  nearer 
to  Augustine  in  their  view  of  the  relation  of  grace  to  free- 
will. The  theological  conflict  that  was  thus  kindled,  was 
of  long  continuance,  and  brought  serious  disasters  upon 
the  Catholic  Church,  and,  in  its  ultimate  effect,  upon  the 
Jesuit  order.  This  was  one  of  a  number  of  adverse  in- 
fluences which  conspired  finally  to  paralyze  the  Catholic 
Reaction,  and  to  stop  the  progress  of  the  counter-reforma- 
tion. 


CHAPTER  Xn. 

THE  STRUGGLE  OF  PROTESTANTISM  IN  THE  SEVEN- 
TEENTH CENTURY. 

The  Catholic  Reaction,  of  which  the  Pope  was  the 
spiritual,  and  Philip  II.  the  secular  chief,  experienced  a 
terrible  reverse  in  the  ruin  of  the  Spanish  Armada,  and 
the  failure  of  that  gigantic  project  for  the  conquest  of 
England.  The  establishment  of  Henry  IV.  on  the  throne 
of  France  was  a  still  more  discouraging  blow.  France, 
the  Netherlands,  and  Great  Britain  were  the  principal 
theatre  of  the  efforts  which  had  for  their  end  the  political 
predominance  of  the  Spanish  monarchy  and  the  spiritual 
supremacy  of  Rome.  The  struggle  of  Protestantism  con- 
tinues through  the  greater  part  of  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury. Gradually  the  Catholic  Reaction  expended  its 
force,  and  political  motives  and  ideas  subordinated  the 
impulses  of  fanaticism. 

The  principal  topics  to  be  considered  are  the  thirty 
years'  war ;  the  English  revolutions ;  the  domestic  and 
foreign  policy  of  Richelieu  and  of  Louis  XIV.  The  reign 
of  Louis  XIV.  falls  principally  in  the  latter  half  of  the 
seventeenth  century,  or  the  period  following  the  great 
European  settlement,  the  Peace  of  Westphalia.  Yet  some 
notice  of  this  reign  is  requisite  for  a  full  view  of  the 
conflict  of  Protestantism  and  Catholicism.1 

Charles  V.  had  found  himself  deceived  in  his  political 

1  Hiiusser,  Geschlchte  des  Zeitalters  d.  Reformation  (18G8).  Von  Raumer, 
Geschichte  Europas  seit  d.  Ende  d.  15.  Jahr.,  vol.  iii.  Laurent,  Les  National- 
itcs,  1.  i.  ch.  iv.  Ranke,  Geschichte  Wallensteins  (3d  ed.,  1872).  Carlyle,  History 
of  Frederic  II.,  vol.  i.,  b.  iii.,  chaps,  xiv.,  xvi. 


422      PROTESTANTISM   IN   THE   SEVENTEENTH   CENTURY. 

calculations,  and  baffled  by  the  moral  force  of  the  Prot- 
estant faith  in  Germany.  His  final  defeat  in  the  attempt 
to  subjugate  the  Protestants  left  the  Empire  weak.  It 
is  not  true  that  Germany  lost  its  political  unity  through 
the  Reformation,  for  this  unity  was  practically  gone 
before :  rather  is  it  true  that  then  it  sacrificed  the  oppor- 
tunity of  recovering  its  unity  and  of  placing  it  on  an  en- 
during foundation.  The  Reformation  in  Germany,  more 
than  in  any  other  country,  emanated  not  from  statesmen 
and  rulers,  but  from  the  hearts  of  the  people.  It  was 
hindered  from  being  universal  by  the  obstacles  cast  in  its 
way  and  by  its  own  internal  divisions. 

The  Peace  of  Augsburg,  unsatisfactory  as  its  provis- 
ions were  to  both  parties,  effected  its  end  as  long  as 
the  emperors  were  impartial  in  their  administration. 
This  was  true  of  Ferdinand  I.,  whose  accession  was 
resisted  by  Paul  IV.,  the  enemy  of  his  House  ;  and  it 
was  true  especially  of  Maximilian  II.,  who  was  himself 
strongly  inclined  to  Protestant  opinions,  and  was  openly 
charged  with  heresy  by  Catholic  zealots.  Under  his 
tolerant  sway,  Protestantism  spread  over  Austria,  with 
the  exception  of  the  rural  and  secluded  valleys  of  the 
Tyrol.  Charles  V.  had  been  obliged  to  relinquish 
his  wish  to  hand  down  the  imperial  crown  to  his  son 
Philip.  Philip,  in  his  fanatical  exertions  against  Protes- 
tantism, did  not  receive  countenance  or  support  from  the 
Austrian  branch  of  his  family.  The  cruelties  of  Alva  in 
the  Netherlands,  and  the  massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew 
were  condemned  and  deplored  by  the  Emperor.  Philip 
was  so  afraid  that  Maximilian  himself  would  join  the 
Protestants,  that  he  deemed  it  necessary  to  dissuade  him, 
by  the  most  pressing  exhortations,  from  taking  such  a 
step.  While  the  contest  was  raging  in  the  Netherlands, 
and  between  the  Huguenots  and  their  enemies  in  France, 
the  Lutherans  of  Germany  remained  for  the  most  part 
neutral.     Their  hostility  to  Calvinism  had   much  to  do 


CAUSES   OF   THE   THIRTY    YEARS'  WAR.  423 

in  determining  their  position.  They  were  warned  by 
William  of  Orange  and  other  Protestants  abroad,  that 
the  cause  was  one,  and  that  if  Catholic  fanaticism 
were  not  checked,  Germany  would  be  the  next  victim. 
In  the  latter  portion  of  Maximilian's  reign,  which  was 
from  1564  to  1576,  the  Jesuits  came  in,  and  disturbances 
arose.  Rudolph  II.,  his  successor,  had  been  brought 
up  in  Spain,  and  was  under  the  influence  of  this  Order. 
The  same  spirit  characterized  Matthias  II.,  who  followed 
next.  In  consequence  of  the  incompetence  of  Rudolph, 
the  government  of  Austria  and  Hungary  had,  during  his 
life,  been  taken  from  him  and  given  to  Matthias,  and  he 
in  turn  gave  way,  in  like  manner,  to  his  cousin  Arch- 
duke Frederic,  of  Styria,  a  bigoted  Catholic  (1619-37). 
Frederic  and  Maximilian,  Duke  of  Bavaria,  were  the 
devoted  champions  of  the  Catholic  Reaction.  Matthias 
had  been  compelled  to  grant  a  letter  patent  to  the 
Bohemians,  which  gave  them  full  religious  toleration 
and  equal  rights  with  the  Catholics.  Violations  of  the 
Religious  Peace  in  Germany  on  the  side  of  the  Catholics 
were  frequent.  Bishops  and  Catholic  cities  drove  out 
their  Protestant  subjects  and  abolished  Protestant  wor- 
ship. The  indignation  of  the  Protestants  throughout 
Germany  was  excited  by  the  treatment  of  the  free  city 
of  Donauworth,  which  was  exclusively  Protestant,  and 
refused  to  allow  processions  from  a  Catholic  convent, 
these  being  inconsistent  with  a  former  agreement.  The 
city  was  placed  under  the  ban  of  the  Empire,  and  the 
Bavarian  Duke  marched  against  it  with  an  overwhelming 
force,  excluded  Protestant  worship,  and  incorporated  the 
town  with  his  own  territories  (1607).  Complaints  were 
made  on  the  Catholic  side  of  infractions  of  the  Ecclesias- 
tical Proviso,  which  ordained  that  benefices  should  be 
vacated  by  incumbents  who  should  embrace  Protestant- 
ism. The  Protestants  had  permitted  the  Emperor,  in 
the  Peace  of  Augsburg,  on  his  own  authority,  to  affirm 


424      PROTESTANTISM   IN   THE   SEVENTEENTH   CENTURY. 

the  Proviso,  which  they  themselves  at  the  same  time 
firmly  refused  to  adopt ;  just  as  the  imperial  declaration 
for  the  protection  of  Protestant  communities  within  the 
jurisdiction  of  Catholic  prelates,  had  been  permitted  by 
the  other  party.  Protestant  princes  had  given  to  bene- 
fices lying  near  them,  which  had  already  been  gained  to 
the  Reformation,  bishops  or  administrators  from  their 
own  kinsmen  ;  and  at  the  diets  they  urged  the  complete 
abolishment  of  all  such  restrictions  upon  religious  free- 
dom.1 But  the  Proviso  was  rigidly  enforced  in  the  case 
of  the  Elector  of  Cologne,  who  went  over  to  Protestant- 
ism in  1582.  The  outrage  perpetrated  against  Donau- 
worth  led  to  the  formation  of  the  Evangelical  Union 
(1608),  a  League  into  which,  however,  all  the  Protes- 
tant States  did  not  enter,  and  which  from  the  beginning 
was  weakly  organized.  But  the  Catholic  League,  which 
was  formed  to  oppose  it,  under  the  leadership  of  Maxi- 
milian of  Bavaria,  was  firmly  cemented  and  full  of 
energy.  On  the  Protestant  side,  in  addition  to  other 
sources  of  discord,  the  hostility  of  the  strict  Lutherans 
to  the  Calvinists  was  a  continual  and  fruitful  cause  of 
division.  The  Bohemians  revolted  against  Ferdinand 
II.  in  1618,  when  their  religious  liberties  were  violated, 
and  "  according  to  the  good  old  Bohemian  custom,"  as 
one  of  the  nobles  expressed  it,  flung  two  of  the  imperial 
councilors  out  of  the  window.  When,  shortly  after,  on 
the  death  of  Matthias,  Ferdinand  became  his  successor, 
the  Bohemians  refused  to  acknowledge  him  as  their 
king,  and  gave  the  crown  of  Bohemia  to  Frederic  V., 
the  Elector  Palatine,  and  the  son-in-law  of  James  I. 
of  England.  Ferdinand,  a  nursling  of  the  Jesuits,  who 
had  early  taken  a  vow  to  extirpate  heresy  in  his  do- 
minions, which  he  had  kept,  up  to  the  measure  of   his 

1  Gieseler,  iv.  i.  1,  §  11.  Upon  the  history  and  interpretation  of  the  Ecclesias- 
tical Reservation,  see  Ranke,  Deutsche  Geschichte,  v.  265,  274  seq.  (  Wcrke,  vii. 
7  seq.),  Gieseler,  iv.  i.  1,  §  9,  and  n.  40. 


OPENING  OF  THE  THIRTY  YEARS*  WAR.       425 

ability,  threw  himself,  as  much  from  necessity  as  from 
choice,  into  the  arms  of  the  Catholic  League.  He  mani- 
fested his  ardor  in  the  Catholic  cause  by  an  assiduous 
attention  to  religious  services.  For  example,  he  took 
part  in  a  procession  in  the  midst  of  a  storm  of  rain, 
emulating  thus  the  zeal  which  the  Emperor  Julian  dis- 
played in  celebrating  the  rites  of  heathenism.  Thus  the 
Austrian  imperial  house  took  up  the  work  which  had 
been  laid  down  by  Charles  V.,  of  defending  and  propa- 
gating Catholicism,  in  alliance  with  the  Church.  The 
Catholic  Reaction,  which  had  found  a  representative  in 
Philip  II.,  found  another  leader  in  the  Emperor  ;  and 
the  two  branches  of  the  Hapsburg  family  were  more 
united  in  religious  sympathies.  The  Elector,  Frederic, 
with  his  obtrusive  Calvinism,  and  with  a  court  whose 
customs  and  manners  were  not  congenial  with  Bohemian 
feeling  —  receiving  little  support,  moreover,  from  the 
Protestant  princes  or  from  England  —  suffered  a  com- 
plete defeat.  Lutheran  prejudices  and  the  fear  of  coun- 
tenancing rebellion  and  the  revolutionary  spirit,  deprived 
him  of  his  natural  allies.  The  result  was  that  Bohemia 
was  abandoned  to  fire  and  sword.  In  the  frightful  perse- 
cution which  had  for  its  object  the  eradication  of  Protes- 
tantism, and  in  the  protracted  wars  that  ensued  upon 
it,  the  population  was  reduced  from  about  four  millions 
to  between  seven  and  eight  hundred  thousand  !  It  was 
only  when  the  Palatinate  was  conquered  and  devas- 
tated ; l  when  the  electoral  rank  was  transferred  to  the 
Duke  of  Bavaria,  and  with  it  the  territories  of  Frederic, 
except  what  was  given  to  Spain  ;  and  when  the  enter- 
prise of  banishing  Protestantism  was  actively  undertaken 
by  the  combined  agency  of  the  troops  of  the  League  and 
of  Jesuit  priests,  that  the  Protestant  powers  took  up 
the  cause  of  the  fugitive  Elector.  In  1625,  England, 
Holland,  and  Denmark  entered  into  an  alliance  for  his 

1  The  Heidelberg  Library  was  carried  off  to  Rome. 


426   PROTESTANTISM  IN  THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY. 

restoration.  Christian  IV.  of  Denmark  was  defeated, 
and  the  Danish  intervention  failed.  By  robbing  Fred- 
eric of  the  electoral  dignity  and  conferring  it  on  the 
Bavarian  Duke,  a  majority  in  the  electoral  body  was 
acquired  by  the  Catholics.  But  the  power  and  station 
which  the  Duke  gained,  separated,  in  important  partic- 
ulars, his  interests  from  those  of  Ferdinand.  It  was 
through  the  aid  of  Wallenstein  and  his  consummate 
ability  in  collecting  and  organizing,  as  well  as  leading 
an  army,  that  Ferdinand  was  able  to  emancipate  himself 
from  the  virtual  control  of  Maximilian  and  the  League.1 
Wallenstein  was  a  Bohemian  noble,  proud,  able,  and 
swayed  by  dreams  of  ambition  ;  unscrupulous  in  respect 
to  the  means  which  might  be  required  for  the  fulfillment 
of  his  daring  schemes.  He  had  rendered  valuable  mili- 
tary services  to  Ferdinand  ;  and,  on  the  suppression  of 
the  Bohemian  revolt,  had  acquired  vast  wealth  by  the 
purchase  of  confiscated  property.  He  offered  to  raise 
an  army  and  to  sustain  it.  He  made  it  support  itself  by 
pillage.  It  was  a  period  of  transition  in  the  method  of 
prosecuting  war,  when  the  old  system  of  feudal  militia 
had  passed  away,  and  the  modern  system  of  national 
forces  or  standing  armies  had  not  arisen.  Armies  were 
made  up  of  hirelings  of  all  nations,  who  prosecuted  war 
as  a  trade  wherever  the  richest  booty  was  to  be  gained  ; 
considering  indiscriminate  robbery  a  legitimate  incident 
of  warfare.  The  ineffable  miseries  of  the  protracted 
struggle  in  Germany  were  due,  to  a  considerable  extent, 
to  this  composition  of  the  armies.  Bands  of  organized 
plunderers,  with  arms  in  their  hands,  were  let  loose  upon 
an  unprotected  population,  captured  cities  being  given 
up  to  the  unbridled  passions  of  a  fierce  and  lawless 
soldiery.  The  unarmed  people  dreaded  their  friends 
hardly  less  than   their  foes.     The  good  behavior  of    the 

1  Ranke,  Geschichte  Wallensteins  (3d  ed.,  1872).  This  biography,  as  might  be 
expected,  is  highly  instructive  on  the  whole  subject  of  the  thirty  years'  war. 


THE  EDICT   OF   RESTITUTION.  427 

Swedes  was  a  marvel  to  the  inhabitants  with  whom  they 
came  in  contact ;  and  even  the  Swedes,  after  the  death 
of  their  great  leader,  sunk  down  towards  the  level  of  the 
rest  of  the  combatants  in  this  frightful  conflict.  It  is 
no  wonder  that  Germany,  traversed  and  trampled  for  a 
whole  generation  by  these  hosts  of  marauders,  was  re- 
duced almost  to  a  desert ;  that  it  endured  calamities 
from  which  it  has  never  entirely  recovered. 

Victory  attended  the  arms  of  Wallenstein  and  of 
Tilly,  the  General  of  the  League.  Brunswick  and  Han- 
over, Silesia,  Schleswig  and  Holstein,  fell  into  their 
power.  The  dukes  of  Mecklenburg  were  put  under  the 
ban  of  the  Empire,  and  their  territory  given,  as  a  re- 
ward, to  Wallenstein  (1627).  He  was  anxious  to  reduce 
the  German  towns  on  the  Baltic.  But  Stralsund  offered 
a  stubborn  resistance  which  he  could  not  overcome,  al- 
though he  vowed  that  he  would  have  the  town  if  it 
were  bound  to  the  sky  by  chains  of  adamant.  His  am- 
bitious schemes  were  quite  independent  of  the  schemes 
of  the  League,  which  could  not  count  upon  his  support. 
Such  was  their  jealousy  and  animosity  towards  the  com- 
mander who  had  made  Ferdinand  free  from  their  dicta- 
tion, that  they  induced  him  to  remove  Wallenstein  from 
his  command.  Shortly  before  this,  however,  they  had 
moved  the  Emperor  to  the  adoption  of  a  measure  equally 
dangerous  to  his  cause,  and  one  that  put  far  distant  the 
hopes  of  peace.  This  was  the  famous  Edict  of  Restitution 
(1629),  which  declared  that  the  Protestant  States,  after 
the  Treaty  of  Passau,  had  no  right  to  appropriate  the 
ecclesiastical  benefices  which  were  under  their  lordship, 
and  that  every  act  of  secularization  of  this  nature  was 
null  ;  that  all  archbishoprics  and  bishoprics  which  had 
become  Protestant  since  that  Treaty,  must  be  surren- 
dered ;  that  the  Declaration  of  Ferdinand  I.,  giving  liberty 
to  the  Protestant  subjects  of  ecclesiastical  princes,  was 
invalid,  and  that  such  subjects  might  be  forced  to  become 


428   PROTESTANTISM  IN  THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY. 

Catholics,  or  expelled  from  their  homes.  That  is,  the 
parts  of  the  Religious  Peace  that  were  odious  to  the 
Protestants  were  to  be  enforced,  according  to  the  strict- 
est construction,  while  the  parts  obnoxious  to  the  Catho- 
lics were  to  be  abrogated.  Moreover,  the  Edict  ordained 
that  the  Religious  Peace  should  not  avail  for  the  protec- 
tion of  Calvinists,  Zwinglians,  or  any  other  dissenters, 
save  the  adherents  of  the  Augsburg  Confession.  The 
changes  that  had  taken  place  since  the  Passau  Treaty 
were  of  such  a  character,  that  the  execution  of  the  Edict 
would  have  brought  a  sweeping  and  violent  revolution 
in  the  Protestant  communities.  It  was  evident  that 
nothing  less  was  aimed  at  than  the  entire  extinction  of 
Protestantism.  The  most  lukewarm  of  the  Princes, 
including  the  Electors  of  Brandenburg  and  Saxony, 
were  roused  by  this  measure  to  a  sense  of  the  common 
danger.  Thus  the  Edict  of  Restitution  and  the  removal 
of  Wallenstein  from  his  command,  the  two  measures 
dictated  by  the  League,  aided  the  Protestant  cause  ;  the 
first  by  awakening  and  combining  its  supporters,  and 
the  second  by  weakening  the  military  strength  of  their 
adversaries.  Wallenstein  was  a  sacrifice  to  the  League 
and  to  the  ambition  of  Maximilian. 

In  the  second  act  of  this  long  drama,  Gustavus  Adol- 
phus,  of  Sweden,  is  the  hero.  It  had  been  his  aim  in 
a  conflict  of  eighteen  years,  with  Denmark,  Poland,  and 
Russia,  to  control  the  Baltic  Sea.  Not  only  was  this 
political  aim  imperiled  by  the  imperial  conquests,  but 
they  involved  the  danger  of  a  Catholic  reaction  in  Sweden 
itself.  Besides  this  motive,  the  Swedish  King  was  im- 
pelled to  intervene  by  a  genuine  attachment  to  Protes- 
tantism, such  as  had  inspired  German  princes,  like  Fred- 
eric of  Saxony,  and  Philip  of  Hesse,  in  the  first  age  of 
the  Reformation.  He  was  not  a  crusader,  who  sought 
to  exterminate  the  opposing  faith.  Rather  did  he  wish 
both  religious  parties  to  respect  each  others'  rights,  and 


DEATH  OF  GUSTAVUS  ADOLPHUS.         429 

dwell  in  amity.  His  interposition,  full  of  peril  to  him- 
self, was  regarded  by  Brandenburg  and  Saxony  with 
jealousy  and  repugnance.  It  was  not  until  the  barbarous 
sack  and  burning  of  Magdeburg  by  the  savage  troops  of 
Tilly  (1681),  that  the  neutral  party  was  forced  to  side 
with  Sweden.  The  victory  of  Gustavus  over  Tilly,  and 
the  triumphant  advance  of  the  Swedes  into  the  South 
of  Germany,  prostrated  the  power  of  the  League.  We 
find  that  Gustavus  was  regarded  with  suspicion  by  the 
princes  but  with  cordiality  by  the  German  cities.  Whether 
his  plan  of  peace,  which  embraced  the  repeal  of  the 
Edict  of  Restitution,  the  toleration  everywhere  of  both 
religions,  the  restoration  of  the  Elector  Palatine  to  his 
territories  and  to  the  electoral  dignity,  and  the  banish- 
ment of  the  Jesuits,  contemplated  his  own  elevation  to 
the  rank  of  King  of  Rome,  must  remain  uncertain.  No 
alternative  was  left  to  Ferdinand  but  to  call  back  Wallen- 
stein  from  his  estates,  and  give  him  absolute  powers  in 
the  conduct  of  the  war  —  powers  which  made  him  inde- 
pendent of  all  control,  and  exempt  from  liability  to 
another  removal.  The  battle  of  Lutzen,  in  1632,  was  a 
great  defeat  of  Wallenstein,  and  a  glorious  victory  for  the 
Swedes  ;  but  it  cost  them  the  life  of  their  king. 

In  the  new  phase  which  the  war  assumed  after  the 
fall  of  Gustavus,  the  influence  of  Richelieu  becomes  more 
and  more  predominant.  The  policy  of  the  Cardinal  was 
to  attain  the  end,  which  French  politics  had  so  long  pur- 
sued, of  breaking  down  the  power  of  Hapsburg,  and,  at 
the  same  time,  of  profiting  by  the  intestine  conflict  in 
Germany,  by  extending  the  French  frontier  on  the  East. 

The  ground  on  which  Richelieu  vindicated  himself  for 
lending  aid  to  Protestants,  was,  that  the  war  was  not  a 
religious,  but  a  political  one.  It  was  the  old  contest  of 
France  against  the  ambitious  effort  of  the  house  of  Haps- 
burg, to  destroy  the  independence  of  other  nations,  and 
build  up  a  universal  monarchy.     This  imputation  was  in- 


430   PROTESTANTISM  IN  THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY. 

dignantly  denied  ;  nor  is  there  reason  to  think  that  such  a 
design  was  seriously  entertained  by  the  Emperor  and  his 
partisans.  Yet  a  complete  success  in  their  mixed  political 
and  religious  enterprise,  would  have  given  them  a  danger- 
ous preponderance.  In  the  warfare  of  Philip  II.  against 
Protestantism,  the  supremacy  of  Spain  and  the  triumph 
of  the  Catholic  cause  were  linked  together  in  his  mind. 
Richelieu,  in  turn,  was  charged  with  cherishing  an  equal 
ambition  in  behalf  of  France.  The  accusation  had  so 
much  of  truth,  that  he,  doubtless,  aimed  to  raise  his 
country  to  the  leading  place  among  the  European  nations. 
Holland  helped  the  anti-Austrian  league  by  carrying  on 
its  own  contest  against  the  troops  of  Spain,  but  was 
deterred  from  entering  further  into  the  war  by  appre- 
hensions in  reference  to  France,  and  the  consequences 
that  would  follow  the  augmentation  of  French  power. 
Richelieu  had  refrained  from  engaging  in  the  German 
war,  until  the  quelling  of  the  Huguenots,  and  the  capture 
of  Rochelle  left  his  hands  free.  In  return  for  the  sub- 
sidies which  he  furnished  Gustavus,  he  had  been  able  to 
gain  from  the  wary  monarch  no  share  in  the  control  of 
the  war,  but  only  the  pledge  that  no  attack  should  be 
made  upon  the  Catholic  religion  as  such.  Oxenstiern, 
the  Swedish  Chancellor,  on  whom  the  principal  conduct 
of  affairs  now  devolved,  was  careful  to  retain  for  the 
Swedes  the  supreme  direction  of  the  war,  which  was  done 
in  the  Heilbronn  Treaty  of  1633,  when  France  entered 
into  an  alliance  with  Sweden  and  the  Protestant  States. 
Wallenstein  became  more  and  more  an  object  of  dread  to 
his  imperial  master,  as  well  as  to  the  League.  The  com- 
mander, whom  it  was  now  impossible  either  to  remove  or 
to  control,  was  plotting  to  arrange  for  a  peace,  in  which 
he  should  settle  with  France  and  Sweden,  satisfy  the  Prot- 
estants, and  probably  reserve  Bohemia,  as  a  reward  for 
himself.  He  had  sounded  his  officers,  and  confided  in 
their  fidelity  to  their  leader.     The  murder  of  Wallenstein 


PREDOMINANCE   OF  RICHELIEU.  431 

(1634)  was  the  means  chosen  to  punish  his  treason,  and 
avert  the  threatened  danger. 

The  imperial  victory  in  the  battle  of  Nordlingen,  in 
1634,  had  the  effect  to  give  to  Richelieu  the  predominance 
which  he  had  long  aspired  after.  The  Swedish  force  was 
broken.  The  aid  of  France  had  now  become  a  necessity. 
France  and  Sweden  were  thenceforward  to  have  an  equal 
part  in  the  management  of  the  war.  Brandenburg  and 
Saxony,  to  whom  the  connection  with  Sweden  had  always 
been  repugnant,  made  for  themselves  a  separate  treaty 
with  the  Emperor,  by  which  the  Edict  of  Restitution,  as 
far  as  they  were  concerned,  was  abrogated.  The  treaty 
between  Saxony  and  the  Emperor  was  concluded  at 
Prague,  in  1635.  That  the  Elector  should  enter  into 
this  disgraceful  arrangement  was  owing,  in  part,  to  his 
jealousy  of  Sweden,  and,  in  part,  to  the  bigoted  hostility 
to  Calvinism,  that  prevailed  in  his  court.  Richelieu's 
desire  to  build  up  a  French  party  among  the  Germans 
seemed  to  be  accomplished,  when  Bernard,  of  Weimar, 
their  foremost  general,  was  taken  into  the  pay  of  France. 
Yet  Bernard  could  not  be  relied  on  to  consent  to  a  per- 
manent cession  of  territory  to  that  country  :  in  his  tes- 
tament, he  expressly  declared  against  it.  The  death  of 
Bernard  in  1639  placed  the  Cardinal  at  the  goal  of  all  his 
efforts  ;  for  the  prosecution  of  the  war  was  left  in  the 
hands  of  the  French,  and  the  armies  came  under  the  lead 
of  French  officers.  The  character  of  the  war  had  entirely 
changed.  Protestant  states  were  fighting  on  the  imperial 
side,  and  paying  a  heavy  price  for  their  desertion  of  their 
former  allies.  Eight  more  years  of  war  were  required  to 
bring  the  Court  of  Vienna  to  consent  to  a  full  amnesty 
and  to  the  restoration  of  the  religious  peaee,  involving  the 
surrender  of  the  Edict  of  Restitution  ;  measures  which 
were  indispensable  to  the  termination  of  the  weary  con- 
flict.  An  acquiescence  in  these  necessary  terms  of  peace 
was  at  last  wrung  from  the  Emperor  by  his  military 
reverses. 


432      PROTESTANTISM  IN   THE   SEVENTEENTH   CENTURY. 

The  cruelties  inflicted  during  this  war,  especially  during 
the  last  years  of  it,  upon  the  defenseless  people,  are  inde- 
scribable. The  population  of  Germany  is  said  to  have 
diminished  in  thirty  years  from  twenty  to  fifty  per  cent. 
The  population  of  Augsburg  was  reduced  from  eighty 
thousand  to  eighteen  thousand.  Of  the  four  hundred 
thousand  inhabitants  of  Wiirtemburg  as  late  as  1641, 
only  forty-eight  thousand  were  left.  Cities,  villages^ 
castles,  and  houses  innumerable  had  been  burned  to  the 
ground.  The  bare  statistics  of  the  destruction  of  life  and 
property  are  appalling. 

The  Peace  of  Westphalia,  in  1648,  confirmed  the  Eccle- 
siastical Reservation  —  fixing,  however,  1624  as  the  normal 
year,  to  decide  which  faith  should  possess  ecclesiastical 
properties.  It  modified  the  jus  reformandi,  according  to 
which  the  religion  of  each  state  was  to  be  determined  by 
that  of  the  prince ;  and  in  this  matter,  also,  1624  was 
made  the  normal  year.  That  is  to  say,  whatever  might 
be  the  faith  of  the  prince,  the  religion  of  each  state  was 
to  be  Catholic  or  Protestant,  according  to  its  position  at 
that  date.  As  to  their  share  in  the  imperial  administration, 
the  two  religions  were  placed  on  a  footing  of  substantial 
equality.  Religious  freedom  and  civil  equality  were  also 
extended  to  the  Calvinists  ;  only  these  three  forms  of 
religion  were  to  be  tolerated  in  the  Empire.  But  the 
Empire  was  reduced  to  a  shadow  by  the  giving  of  the 
power  to  decide,  instead  of  advising,  in  all  matters  of 
peace,  war,  taxation,  and  the  like,  to  the  Diet,  and  by  the 
allowance  granted  to  members  of  the  Diet  to  contract  al- 
liances with  one  another  and  with  foreign  powers,  pro- 
vided no  prejudice  should  come  thereby  to  the  Empire  or 
the  Emperor.  The  independence  of  Holland  and  of 
Switzerland  was  formally  acknowledged.  Sweden  ob- 
tained the  territory  about  the  Baltic,  which  Gustavus  had 
wanted,  in  addition  to  other  important  places  about  the 
North  Sea,  and  the  mouths  of  the  Oder,  the  Weser,  and 


ENGLAND  UNDER  JAMES  I.  433 

the  Elbe;  in  consequence  of  which  cession  Sweden,  be- 
came a  member  of  the  German  Diet.  Among  the  ac- 
quisitions of  France  were  the  three  bishoprics,  Metz,  Toul, 
and  Verdun,  and  the  lanclgraviate  of  Upper  and  Lower 
■  Alsace  ;  France  thus  gaining  access  to  the  Rhine.  Both 
Sweden  and  France,  by  becoming  guarantees  of  the  peace, 
obtained  the  right  to  interfere  in  the  internal  affairs  of 
Germany.  So  great  was  the  penalty  paid  for  civil 
discord. 

England,  during  the  reign  of  the  Stuart  kings,  de 
scended  from  the  lofty  position  which  it  had  held  among 
the  European  states,  as  a  bulwark  of  Protestantism. 
James  I.  (1603-1625)  brought  to  the  throne  the  highest 
notions  of  kingly  authority,  and  in  connection  with  them, 
a  cordial  hatred  of  Presbyterianism,  which  his  experiences 
in  Scotland  led  him  to  regard  as  a  natural  ally  of  popular 
government.  He  expressed  his  conviction  in  the  maxim, 
"  No  bishop,  no  king."  The  contrast  between  obsequious 
prelates  on  their  knees  before  him,  and  the  ministers  of 
the  Kirk  who  pulled  his  sleeve  as  they  administered  their 
blunt  rebukes,  delighted  his  soul.  He  found  himself  not 
only  delivered  from  his  tormentors,  but  an  object  of  adula- 
tion. He  had  once  said  of  the  "  neighbor  Kirk  in  Eng- 
land "  that  "it  is  an  evil -said  mass  in  English;"1  but 
he  was  cured  of  this  aversion,  if  it  was  ever  seriously 
entertained.  During  the  reign  of  James,  the  gulf  be- 
tween the  Anglican  Church  and  the  Puritans  was  widened, 
chiefly  in  consequence  of  two  changes  which  took  place  in 
the  former.  The  episcopal  polity  which  had  been  regarded, 
in  the  age  of  Elizabeth,  as  one  among  various  admissible 
forms  of  Church  government,  came  to  be  more  and  more 
considered  a  divine  ordinance,  and  indispensable  to  the 
constitution  of  a  Church;  so  that,  as  Macaulay  expresses 
it,  a  Church  might  as  well  be  without  the  doctrine  of  the 

1  Calderwood,  v.  105,  106;  Burton,  vi.  221. 


434   PROTESTANTISM  IN  THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY. 

Trinity  or  the  Incarnation,  as  without  bishops.  The 
other  change  was  the  spread  in  the  Anglican  body,  of  the 
Arminian  theology,  which  introduced  a  doctrinal  differ- 
ence that  had  not  existed  before,  between  the  established 
Church  and  the  Puritans.1  As  the  common  enemy,  which 
Anglican  and  Puritan  combined  to  oppose,  became  less 
formidable,  since  the  great  majority  of  the  nation  were 
now  hostile  to  the  Catholic  Church,  the  two  Protestant 
parties  were  less  restrained  from  mutual  contention,  and 
were  led  by  the  very  influence  of  their  conflict  with  one 
another  to  sharpen  their  characteristic  points  of  difference. 
James  lost  no  time  in  evincing  his  hostility  to  the  Puri- 
tans. On  his  way  to  London,  the  Millenary  petition, 
signed  by  nearly  a  thousand  ministers,  who  asked  for  the 
abolishment  of  usages  most  obnoxious  to  the  Puritans, 
was  not  only  received  with  no  favor,  but  ten  of  those 
who  had  presented  the  petition  were  actually  imprisoned 
by  the  Star  Chamber,  on  the  ground  that  their  act  tended 
to  sedition  and  treason.  The  petitioners  were  not  Sepa- 
ratists ;  they  made  no  objection  to  episcopacy.  They 
complained  of  non-residence,  pluralities,  and  like  abuses, 
and  of  the  cross  in  baptism,  the  cap  and  surplice,  and  a 
few  other  ceremonial  peculiarities.2  The  opportunity  was 
presented  for  a  scheme  of  Comprehension,  which,  had  it 
been  adopted,  would  have  had  the  most  important  conse- 
quences ;  but  that  opportunity  was  not  embraced.  In  the 
Hampton  Court  Conference,  where  a  few  Puritan  divines 
met   the   bishops,    the    King    treated    the   former   with 

1  James  sent  delegates  to  the  Synod  of  Dort,  who  made  to  him  full  reports  of  its 
proceedings.  Some  of  them  he  rewarded  with  promotion  in  the  Church.  -Mrs. 
Hutchinson,  writing  of  the  interval  between  1639  and  1641,  in  the  next  reign, 
says  of  the  doctrine  of  predestination:  "  At  that  time  this  great  doctrine  grew 
much  out  of  fashion  with  the  prelates,  but  was  generally  embraced  by  all  relig- 
ious and  holy  persons  in  the  land."  Life  of  Col  Hutchinson,  p.  66  (Bonn's 
ed.).  The  admirable  picture  of  Puritan  character  presented  in  this  memoir  is 
marred  only  by  the  writer's  strong  prejudice  against  Cromwell.  The  literature 
on  the  history  of  Arminianism  in  the  English  Church  is  given  by  Cunningham, 
The  Reformers  and  the  Theology  of  the  Reformation,  p.  168  seq. 

'<*  Hallam,  ch.  vi.  (p.  173). 


ENGLAND  UNDER  JAMES  I.  435 

unfairness  and  insolence.  He  plumed  himself  on  the  the- 
ological learning  and  acumen  which  he  fancied  himself  to 
possess,  and  which  formed  one  of  his  titles  to  the  distinc- 
tion, which  his  flatterers  gave  him,  of  being  the  Solomon 
of  his  age.  The  praises  lavished  on  him  by  the  bishops, 
— one  of  whom  declared  that  he  undoubtedly  spoke  by  the 
direct  inspiration  of  the  Holy  Ghost  —  in  connection  with 
their  extravagant  theory  of  royal  authority,  and  of  the 
submission  owed  by  the  subject,  filled  him  with  delight. 
This  Conference  had  one  valuable  result.  Dr.  Reynolds, 
one  of  the  Puritan  representatives,  and  perhaps  the  most 
learned  man  in  the  kingdom,  recommended  that  a  new  or 
revised  version  of  the  Scriptures  should  be  prepared  ;  and 
this  suggestion  James,  who  complained  of  certain  mar- 
ginal observations  in  "  the  Geneva  Bible,"  which  were 
unfavorable  to  the  sacredness  of  royalty,  caught  up  and 
caused  to  be  carried  out.1  The  desire  of  the  clergy  to 
enhance  their  own  authority  by  exalting  that  of  the 
crown,  appears  in  the  ambitious  schemes  of  Bancroft,  the 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  which  encountered  the  resist- 
ance of  Coke,  the  great  champion  of  the  common  law. 
As  long  as  Cecil  was  in  power,  the  foreign  politics  of  James 
were  not  destitute  of  spirit ;  but  the  timidity  of  the  King, 
joined  with  his  desire  to  marry  his  son  to  a  Spanish  prin- 
cess, prevented  him  from  efficiently  supporting  his  son-in- 
law,  the  Elector  Palatine,  at  the  outbreaking  of  the  thirty 
years'  war,  and  moved  him  basely  to  sacrifice  Raleigh  to 
the  vengeance  of  Spain.  His  want  of  common  sense  was 
manifested  in  his  attempt  to  impose  episcopacy  upon  the 
Scottish  Church.  His  arbitrary  principles  of  government, 
which  he  had  not  prudence  enough  to  prevent  him  from 

1  The  Hampton  Court  Conference  is  interesting  and  important,  as  presenting 
the  characteristics  of  the  two  ecclesiastical  parties  and  of  the  sovereign.  Most 
of  the  accounts  of  it  are  derived  from  Dr.  Barlow's  report,  who  was  on  the 
anti-Puritan  side.  See  Fuller,  Church  History,  v.  2GG;  Neal,  p.  ii.,  ch.  i. ;  Card- 
well,  History  of  Conferences,  p.  121;  Burton,  History  of  Scotland,  vL  218  seq. 
Hallam  {Const.  Hist,  ch.  vi.)  has  candid  and  just  remarks  on  the  hehavior  of 
the  king  and  of  the  bishops. 


436   PROTESTANTISM  IN  THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY. 

constantly  proclaiming,  prepared  the  way  for  the  great 
civil  contest  that  broke  out  in  the  next  reign. 

Charles  I.  (1625-1649)  made  the  deliberate  attempt 
to  govern  England  without  a  Parliament.  There  is  no 
doubt  that  it  was  his  design  to  convert  the  limited  monar- 
chy into  an  absolute  one.  Although  a  sincere  Protes- 
tant, he  sympathized  fully  with  what  may  be  termed  the 
Romanizing  party  in  the  English  Church,  or  the  party 
which  stood  at  the  farthest  remove  from  Puritanism,  and 
nearest  to  the  religious  system  of  the  Church  of  Rome. 
Charles's  treatment  of  the  Papists  was  vacillating.  Now 
the  laws  would  be  executed  against  them,  and  now  the 
execution  of  them  would  be  illegally  suspended  by  the 
King's  decree.  But  the  occasional  severities  of  the  gov- 
ernment towards  them  could  not  efface  the  impression 
which  had  been  made  by  the  sending  of  an  English  fleet  to 
aid  in  the  blockade  of  Rochelle  (1625),  which  the  French 
King  was  seeking  to  wrest  from  the  Huguenots.  Laud,  an 
honest  but  narrow-minded  and  superstitious  man,  became 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  in  1633.  To  advance,  in  re- 
spect to  doctrine  and  ceremonies,  as  near  as  possible  to  the 
Roman  Catholic  system,  without  accepting  the  jurisdic- 
tion of  the  Pope,  was  his  manifest  inclination.  He  re- 
cords his  dreams  in  his  diary.  On  one  occasion  he 
dreamed  that  he  was  reconverted  to  the  Church  of 
Rome.1  It  was  an  unpleasant  dream,  since  it  related  to 
a  danger  that,  as  he  doubtless  felt,  attended  his  meas- 
ures, but  which  he  meant  to  escape.  His  impracticable 
character  and  lack  of  tact,  even  James  I.  accurately  dis- 
cerned. "  The  plain  truth  is  that  I  keep  Laud  back  from 
all  place  of  rule  and  authority,  because  I  find  that  he 
hath  a  restless  spirit,  and  cannot  see  when  matters  are 
well,  but  loves  to  toss  and  change,  and  to  bring  things  to 
a  pitch  of  reformation,  floating  in  his  own  brain,  which 
may  endanger  the  steadfastness  of  that  which  is  in  a 

i  Burton,  Hist,  of  Scotland,  vi.  390. 


THE   WESTMINSTER   ASSEMBLY.  437 

good  pass/'  Of  Laud's  plans  respecting  the  Scots,  James 
added  :  "  He  knows  not  the  stomach  of  that  people."  1 
By  means  of  the  Court  of  High  Commission,  a  species 
of  Protestant  Inquisition,  he  engaged  with  a  vigilant  and 
merciless  zeal  in  the  persecution  of  Puritans.  They  were 
even  prosecuted  for  not  complying  with  new  ceremonies 
which  Laud  himself  had  introduced,  and  for  preaching 
Calvinism ;  and  they  were  punished  for  declining  to  read 
in  the  churches,  the  "  Book  of  Sports,"  which  recommended 
games  and  pastimes,  of  which  they  did  not  approve. 
The  Star-Chamber,  and  the  High  Commission,  are  em- 
blems, as  they  were  effective  instruments,  of  the  ecclesi- 
astical and  civil  tyranny  to  which  the  English  people 
were  subjected.  The  endeavor  to  force  the  English 
Prayer-book  upon  Scotland,  called  out,  in  1638,  the 
Solemn  League  and  Covenant  of  the  Scots  for  the  de- 
fense of  Presbyterianism.  In  1642,  hostilities  began 
between  the  Long  Parliament  and  the  King,  the  imme- 
diate occasion  being  the  abortive  attempt  of  Charles,  in 
violation  of  his  pledges,  to  arrest  Pyin  and  his  associates, 
in  the  House  of  Commons.  The  same  year  Parliament 
convoked  the  Westminster  Assembly  to  advise  them  in 
the  matter  of  reconstructing  the  Church  of  England.  At 
the  outset,  a  majority  of  its  members  were  not  only  con- 
forming ministers,  but  would  have  been  content  with  a 
moderate  episcopacy.  It  has  been  said  with  truth  that 
moderate  Episcopalians  of  the  school  of  Usher,  and  mod- 
erate Presbyterians  of  the  stamp  of  Baxter,  had  little  dif- 
ficulty in  finding  a  common  ground  on  which  they  could 
unite.  A  second  party  which,  if  not  numerous  in  the 
Assembly,  was  growing  in  the  nation,  was  that  of  the 
Independents  who  held  to  the  self-governing  power  of 
the  local  congregation  or  church,  into  the  communion  of 
which  they  would  receive  none  who  did  not  give  proof  of 

1  The  authority  for  this  statement  of  James  is  Bishop  John  Hacket.     Burton, 
vi.  338. 


438   PROTESTANTISM  IN  THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY. 

being  spiritual  or  regenerated  persons.  Rejecting  the 
government  of  prelates  and  of  synods,  they  favored  vol- 
untary associations  for  counsel,  and  for  the  prosecution, 
in  concert,  of  Christian  work.  The  Independents  were 
denied  the  liberty  which  they  strove  to  obtain  at  the 
hands  of  the  Presbyterians ;  and  the  rejection  by  them  of 
a  scheme  of  comprehension,  which  would  have  united  both 
sections  of  the  Puritan  party,  has  been  deplored,  even  by 
Neal  and  Baxter,  advocates  of  the  Presbyterian  system. 
The  Erastians,  among  whom  in  the  Assembly  were 
Lightfoot  and  Selden,  of  all  the  members  the  most  emi- 
nent for  their  learning,  were  in  favor  of  giving  the  regu- 
lation of  all  ecclesiastical  affairs  to  the  state.  The  influ- 
ence of  the  Scots,  and  the  necessity  of  a  union  with  them, 
in  order  successfully  to  withstand  Charles,  were  power- 
ful considerations  with  the  whole  Puritan  body.  Parlia- 
ment adopted  the  Scottish  Covenant,  and  the  Assembly 
the  Presbyterian  polity.  But  Parliament  steadily  re- 
fused to  concede  to  this  system  a  divine  right,  or  to  yield 
up  its  own  supremacy,  as  a  court  of  ultimate  appeal. 
The  Calvinistic  theory  of  the  Church,  as  a  distinct  power, 
having  the  complete  right  to  excommunicate  its  members, 
or  to  interdict  communion,  was  not  allowed.  It  was  a 
point  which  the  Scottish  influence  was  not  strong  enough 
to  carry.  The  Confession  and  Catechism,  prepared  by 
the  Assembly,  were  made  the  Creed  of  the  Church  of 
England,  and  their  "  Directory  "  was  put  forth  by  au- 
thority of  Parliament,  for  the  regulation  of  worship,  in 
the  room  of  the  Prayer-book.  Between  one  and  two 
thousand  ministers  who  refused  the  new  subscriptions, 
were  deprived  of  their  places.1  The  Presbyterian  system, 
similar  to  that  in  Scotland,  witli  the  exception  that  ap- 
peals might  be  taken  from  the  highest  ecclesiastical  tri- 
bunals  to   Parliament,    was    now   legally  established    in 

1  As  to  the  Dumber  and    character  of  the  ejected   ministers,  see  Vaughan. 
English  Nonconformity,  p.  127. 


THE   INDEPENDENTS.  439 

England.  But  shortly  lifter  the  new  regulations  were 
passed,  the  Independents,  of  whom  Cromwell  was  the 
chief,  attained  to  supreme  power  in  the  state.  The  con- 
sequence was,  that  Presbyterianism  was  never  fully  es- 
tablished in  more  than  two  counties,  Middlesex  and  Lan- 
cashire. Cromwell  set  up  a  Board  of  "  Triers  "  for  the 
examination  and  approval  of  candidates  for  benefices  ; 
and  without  the  certificate  of  this  Board,  composed  mostly 
of  Independent  divines,  no  person  could  take  an  ecclesi- 
astical office.  Their  certificate  was  a  substitute  for  insti- 
tution and  induction.  But  the  Puritans,  when  they 
found  themselves  in  possession  of  power,  interdicted  the 
use  of  the  Prayer-book  in  private  houses  as  well  as  in 
churches,  and  imitated,  but  too  successfully,  the  persecut- 
ing spirit  of  their  opponents.  Cromwell  himself,  in  com- 
parison with  the  Puritan  leaders  generally,  was  of  a  lib- 
eral and  tolerant  spirit.  The  Independents  were,  gener- 
ally speaking,  favorable  to  religious  toleration.  Yet, 
it  was  only  a  few,  at  first,  who  fully  adopted  the  princi- 
ple that  the  magistrate  should  use  no  coercion  whatever 
in  matters  of  religious  belief,  or  the  principle  that  the 
state  should  leave  entirely  to  the  congregations  the  pecu- 
niary support  of  the  ministry.  The  doctrine  of  religious 
liberty  found,  at  that  day,  some  warm  advocates,  such 
as  Vane,  and  John  Milton,  the  ornament  of  the  Indepen- 
dent party. 

The  settlement  of  New  England  was  a  result  of  the 
religious  conflicts  among  the  Protestants  of  England. 
In  the  reign  of  James  I.,  a  congregation  of  Independents 
escaped  from  persecution  in  England,  under  circum- 
stances of  great  difficulty  and  hardship,  and  found  an 
asylum  in  Holland.  A  portion  of  this  church  of  emi- 
grants, at  Leyden,  having  received  the  benediction  of  their 
pastor,  John  Robinson,  crossed  the  Atlantic  in  the  May- 
flower, and  in  December,  1620,  began  the  settlement  of 
Plymouth.     Afterwards,  in  the  reign  of  Charles  I.,  bands 


440      PROTESTANTISM   IN   THE   SEVENTEENTH   CENTURY. 

of  non-conformists  from  England,  organized  the  colony 
of  Massachusetts.  The  Plymouth  settlers  were  Separa- 
tists ;  the  Massachusetts  settlers  were  not.  But  as  Rob- 
inson had  predicted,  "  unconformable  Christians  "  of  both 
classes,  found  no  difficulty  in  agreeing  in  Church  principles, 
as  soon  as  they  found  themselves  out  of  the  kingdom  of 
England,  and  at  full  liberty  to  regulate  their  ecclesiastical 
affairs  for  themselves.  They  adopted  in  common  the  Con- 
gregational system  of  Church  govern  ment.  The  settlers 
of  Massachusetts  organized  a  State  as  well  as  a  Church. 
They  founded  a  religious  commonwealth  ;  a  community  hi 
which  all  political  power  was  placed  in  the  hands  of  mem- 
bers of  the  Church  ;  a  theocratic  State.  They  have  been 
censured  for  the  practice  of  intolerance  towards  opponents 
of  their  creed,  and  of  their  ecclesiastical  and  political 
order.  On  this  point,  a  distinction  is  to  be  made  between 
the  settlers  of  Massachusetts  and  those  of  Plymouth. 
Among  the  latter,  religious  liberty  was  cherished.  It  is 
important  to  remember  that  the  Massachusetts  colony 
was  not  a  full-blown  commonwealth,  but  a  society  or- 
ganized under  a  charter ;  at  most,  an  incipient  State. 
What  may  be  safe  and  tolerable  in  a  mature,  fully 
established  political  community,  may  be  unsafe  and  de- 
structive in  an  infant  society  of  this  character  ;  especially 
in  an  age  of  religious  ferment  and  violent  agitation.  Yet 
it  must  not  be  supposed  that  the  founders  of  Massachu- 
setts and  of  the  other  New  England  colonies,  except 
Rhode  Island,  which  were  soon  after  formed,  were  ad- 
vocates of  "  liberty  of  conscience."  They  generally  be- 
lieved that  it  belongs  to  the  civil  magistrate  to  protect 
orthodoxy.  They  had  not  advanced  to  the  more  liberal 
doctrine  as  to  the  rights  of  the  individual,  to  the  more  re- 
stricted notion  of  the  province  of  the  state,  which  Inde- 
pendents of  the  school  of  Milton  and  Vane  expressed,  and 
which  formed  one  of  the  peculiarities  of  Roger  Williams.1 

1  Among  the  multitude  of   books  on  the  principles  of  the  founders  of  New 


REIGN   OF   CHARLES  II.  441 

Under  the  Protector,  England  once  more  took  the  high 
and  commanding  place  in  Europe,  which  she  had  lost 
since  the  death  of  Elizabeth.  Heavy  blows  were  struck 
at  the  Spanish  monarchy.  Protestants,  wherever  they 
were  oppressed,  found  in  the  English  Ruler  a  defender 
whose  arm  was  long  enough  to  smite  their  assailants. 

The  English  people,  after  the  death  of  Cromwell 
(1658),  were  more  and  more  impatient  of  the  rule  of 
the  army,  and  yearned  for  their  old  institutions  of  gov- 
ernment. Hence  they  gave  a  cordial  welcome  to  Charles 
II.  (1660).  The  fatal  mistake  was  made  of  requiring 
from  him  no  formal  guaranties  of  civil  and  religious 
liberty.  The  restoration  was  effected  by  a  combined 
effort  of  the  Presbyterians  and  the  Episcopalians.1  The 
Presbyterians  had  stood  aloof  from  the  extreme  meas- 
ures of  the  reigning  party  under  the  commonwealth  : 
the  Presbyterian  members  had  been  expelled  from  Par- 
liament before  the  trial  of  the  King.  This  party  had 
warm  hopes,  not  only  from  the  agency  which  they  had 
exerted  in  bringing  back  the  King,  but  also  from  his 
promises.  In  the  Declaration  from  Breda,  prior  to  his 
return,  Charles  had  declared  that  no  man  should  "  be 
disquieted  or  called  in  question  for  differences  of  opinion 
in  religion  which  do  not  disturb  the  peace  of  the  king- 
dom." He  had  promised  "  a  liberty  to  tender  con- 
sciences "  and  "  an  indulgence  "  to  be  secured  by  Act 
of  Parliament.  The  Worcester  House  Declaration  of 
the  King,  shortly  after  the  Restoration,  more  than  con- 
firmed these  pledges  ;  but  they  were  all  to  be  falsified. 

England,  we  may  refer  to  Palfrey's  learned  and  able  History  of  New  England, 
vol.  i.;  to  the  Lectures  of  Dr.  George  E.  Ellis  on  The  Aims  and  Purposes  of 
the  Founders  of  Massachusetts,  and  Their  Treatment  of  Intruders  and  Dis- 
sentients, and  to  Historical  Discourses,  by  Leonard  Bacon  (1839). 

1  Forster,  Life  of  Cromwell,  in  the  Statesmen  of  the  Commonwealth,  vols.  iii. 
and  iv.;  T.  Carlyle,  Letters  and  Speeches  of  Oliver  Cromioell  (3d  ed.,  1857). 
Besides  the  English  historians,  Hume,  Clarendon,  Godwin,  Macaulay,  and  the 
others,  we  have,  on  this  period,  the  works  of  Guizot,  History  of  the  English 
Revolution,  and  Hist,  of  Cromwell,  the  Commonwealth,  and  the  Restoration 
(1854-57). 


442   PROTESTANTISM  IN  THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY. 

The  Presbyterians  found  themselves  deceived.  Charles 
was  himself  a  good-natured  sensualist,  secretly  fond  of 
the  Romish  Church,  to  which  he  conformed  on  liis  death- 
bed. But  had  he  been  disposed  to  be  indulgent  to  Puri- 
tanism, the  wave  of  the  Anglican  Reaction,  which  rose 
higher  day  by  day ;  the  Reaction  in  which  a  tender  senti- 
ment of  loyalty  to  the  family  of  the  King  was  mingled  with 
resentment  against  the  party  by  whose  instrumentality 
his  father  had  been  brought  to  the  block,  and  with  love 
to  the  Church,  which  had  fallen  with  the  throne,  might 
have  hindered  him  from  carrying  out  his  inclination.  The 
anti-Puritan  measures  had  the  potent  support  of  Clar- 
endon. The  Savoy  Conference,  in  May,  1661,  between 
twenty-one  Anglican,  and  as  many  Presbyterian  divines, 
after  acrimonious  debates,  in  which  the  Churchmen 
showed  no  disposition  to  come  to  an  accommodation 
with  their  opponents,  which  would  have  retained  in  the 
Church  a  vast  number  of  able  and  useful  ministers,  broke 
up  without  any  result.  Thus  another  great  opportunity 
for  Comprehension,  for  converting  the  Anglican  establish- 
ment into  a  Broad  Church,  in  which,  with  uniformity  in 
essentials,  there  should  be  room  for  diversity  in  things  of 
less  moment,  was  thrown  away.  The  Episcopal  system 
was  re-instated  by  Parliament.  It  was  required  that  all 
ministers  who  had  not  been  ordained  by  bishops  should 
receive  episcopal  ordination  ;  that  all  ministers  should 
make  a  declaration  of  unfeigned  assent  and  consent  to 
the  Prayer-book  and  to  the  whole  system  of  the  Church 
of  England,  should  take  the  oath  of  canonical  obedience, 
abjure  the  Solemn  League  and  Covenant,  and,  moreover, 
solemnly  ab  j  ore  the  doctrine  of  the  lawfulness  of  taking  up 
arms  against  the  King  or  any  commissioned  by  him,  on  any 
pretense  whatsoever.  Two  thousand  ministers  —  many 
of  whom  were  among  the  best  in  the  kingdom,  men  like 
Richard  Baxter  —  who  refused  to  comply  with  the  terms 
of  the  Act  of  Uniformity,  were  in  one  day,  in  1662,  ejected 


EJECTION    OF    PURITAN   MINISTERS.  443 

from  their  livings.1  This  hard  measure  may,  to  be  sure, 
be  looked  upon  as  a  retaliation  for  what  was  done  to  the 
Episcopal  clergy  under  the  Long  Parliament.  But  those 
who  rejected  the  Covenant  received  a  fifth  of  the  income 
of  their  places,  for  the  supply  of  their  immediate  necessi- 
ties. In  their  case,  also,  there  was  a  great  political  di- 
vision, a  civil  war  in  which  the  ejected  ministers  were 
against  the  Parliament ;  while  the  ministers  who  were 
driven  from  their  parishes  in  1662  were  loyal  supporters 
of  Charles,  without  whom  he  might  never  have  obtained 
his  throne. 

Whoever  would  form  a  vivid  idea  of  the  demoralization 
of  the  English  Court,  should  read  the  Diaries  of  Pepys 
and  Evelyn,  both  of  them  Royalists,  and  the  latter  a  man 
of  elevated  character,  as  well  as  of  high  culture.  Men 
who  had  risked  their  lives  for  the  fallen  dynasty,  but  who 
retained  some  respect  for  morality  and  decency,  were 
compelled  to  hide  their  heads  with  mortification  at  the 
shameless  profligacy  that  was  encouraged  by  the  example 
of.  the  King. 

In  1670,  Charles  II.  entered  into  the  secret  treaty  with 
Louis  XIV.,  which  has  been  described  as  "  a  coalition 
against  the  Protestant  faith  and  the  liberties  of  Europe." 
It  was  agreed  that  Charles,  at  the  fitting  time,  should 
avow  himself  a  Catholic,  and,  with  the  help  of  Louis, 
establish  the  Catholic  religion  and  absolute  government 

1  Documents  relating  to  the  Settlement  of  the  Church  of  England  by  the  Act 
of  Uniformity,  1662.  (London,  1862.)  This  is  a  valuable  compilation.  An 
excellent  monograph  on  the  Restoration  in  its  ecclesiastical  aspects,  is  the  work 
of  Stoughton,  Church  and  State  Two  Hundred  Years  Ago :  From  1660  to 
1663  (1862).  The  Life  and  Times  of  Richard  Baxter,  is  a  most  instructive, 
and  entertaining  contemporaneous  authority.  Baxter  played  a  prominent 
part  in  the  events  of  the  period.  If  his  scholarship  was  not  accurate,  his  read- 
ing was  vast.  His  mind  was  acute  and  fertile,  and  his  piety  was  honored  by 
his  adversaries.  But  in  public  affairs,  he  was  singularly  destitute  of  tact,  and 
he  had  a  most  exaggerated  faith  in  the  efficacy  of  disputations  and  of  "a  few 
necessary  distinctions,"  where  hostile  parties  were  to  be  reconciled.  On  the 
treatment  of  Baxter  and  his  associates  in  1662,  there  are  good  remarks  by  Cole- 
ridge in  his  Notes  on  the  Old  Divines,  in  the  section:  Notes  on  Baxter's  Life  of 
Himself 


444   PROTESTANTISM  IN  THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY. 

in  England.  In  return,  Charles  was  to  help  Louis  in  his 
ambitious  designs  upon  the  Netherlands.  The  dominions 
of  Spain  in  America  were,  if  practicable,  at  a  later  day, 
to  be  divided  between  the  two  contracting  powers.  It  is 
hardly  probable  that  Louis  expected  to  carry  out  the  plot 
contained  in  this  treaty,  so  far  as  the  forcible  establish- 
ment of  the  Catholic  religion  in  England  is  concerned. 
It  was  enough  for  him,  if  the  King  and  Parliament 
remained  in  a  constant  disagreement,  and  if  England 
could  be  at  least  prevented  from  interfering  with  his 
schemes  of  conquest.  The  hesitation  of  Charles  about 
professing  his  Catholicism  retarded  the  movement  for  the 
accomplishment  of  the  treaty.  Strenuous  opposition  had 
sprung  up  in  Parliament  to  the  King,  and  especially  to  his 
brother,  the  Duke  of  York,  who  was  an  avowed  Catholic. 
Fresh  severities  against  Dissenters  were  undertaken,  for 
the  purpose  of  conciliating  the  Anglican  clergy.  The  real 
designs  and  policy  of  Charles  became  evident,  after  the 
commencement  of  the  war  against  Holland.  In  1673,  a 
Declaration  of  Indulgence,  suspending  the  penal  laws 
against  Dissenters,  was  issued,  for  the  purpose  of  winning 
their  support,  or  of  deluding  them  into  a  false  sense  of 
security.     Charles  II.  died  in  1685. 

James  II.,  with  the  same  subservience  to  foreign  pow- 
ers, and  the  same  arbitrary  notions  of  government  which 
had  belonged  to  his  brother,  was  of  a  slower  and  more 
obstinate  mind,  and  differed  from  Charles  in  cherishing 
a  sincere  and  bigoted  attachment  to  the  Catholic  religion. 
In  1686,  the  Court  of  High  Commission,  which  had  been 
abolished  forever  by  the  Long  Parliament,  was  revived, 
and  the  notorious  Jeffreys  placed  at  its  head.  Finding 
that  the  Episcopalians  were  not  to  be  won  by  the  per- 
secution of  the  Puritans,  the  Declaration  for  Liberty  of 
Conscience  was  issued  in  1687,  for  the  sake  of  enlisting 
the  Dissenters  in  behalf  of  his  scheme  of  arbitrary  govern- 
ment.    However  just  the  measure  might  be,  it  involved 


REVOLUTION    OF    1688.  445 

in  itself  a  violent  stretch  of  prerogative.  But  it  was  recog- 
nized as  a  part  of  a  scheme,  which,  if  accomplished,  would 
bring  upon  Nonconformists  and  Churchmen  alike  a  re- 
newal of  persecution  in  the  most  unrelenting  form.  The 
combination  of  parties,  which  was  produced  by  the  plot 
of  James  for  subverting  the  Protestant  religion  and 
establishing  Popery,  gave  rise  to  the  Revolution  of  1688, 
and  the  establishment  of  William  of  Orange  upon  the 
throne,  who  had  married  the  eldest  daughter  of  James, 
and  had  defended  Holland  and  Protestantism  against  the 
assaults  of  Louis  XIV.  At  the  accession  of  William  and 
Mary,  says  Hallam,  "  the  Act  of  Toleration  was  passed 
with  little  difficulty,  though  not  without  murmurs  of  the 
bigoted  Churchmen.  It  exempts  from  the  penalties  of 
existing  statutes  against  separate  conventicles,  or  absence 
from  the  established  worship,  such  as  should  take  the 
oath  of  allegiance  and  subscribe  to  the  Declaration 
against  Popery,  and  such  ministers  of  separate  con- 
gregations as  should  subscribe  the  thirty-nine  Articles  of 
the  Church  of  England,  except  three,  and  a  part  of  a 
fourth.  It  gives,  also,  an  indulgence  to  Quakers,  with- 
out this  condition.  Meeting-houses  are  required  to  be 
registered,  and  are  protected  from  insult  by  a  penalty. 
No  part  of  this  toleration  is  extended  to  Papists,  or  such 
as  deny  the  Trinity."  The  subscription  to  the  Articles 
of  Faith  was  practically  dispensed  with  ;  "  though,"  adds 
Hallam,  "  such  a  genuine  toleration  as  Christianity  and 
philosophy  alike  demand,  had  no  place  in  our  statute 
book  before  the  reign  of  George  III." 

The  ministry  of  William  III.,  when  they  introduced 
the  Toleration  Act,  introduced,  also,  a  Comprehension 
Bill,  which  released  Nonconformists  from  the  necessity 
of  subscribing  the  Articles  and  Homilies,  and  delivered 
them  from  the  obligation  to  fulfill  certain  ceremonies  that 
were  most  obnoxious.  Had  this  scheme  been  adopted, 
Presbyterians  would  have  been  admitted  to  the  charge 


446   PROTESTANTISM  IN.  THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY. 

of  parishes  without  re-ordination.  It  failed  by  the  force 
of  the  opposition  to  it  in  Convocation,  to  which  it  was 
referred.  Moderate  churchmen,  like  Tillotson,  Burnet, 
Stillingfleet,  Patrick,  and  Beveridge,  were  outnumbered 
by  those  who  were  resolutely  averse  to  any  modifications 
of  the  'Prayer-book.  The  measure  was  lost,  partly  from 
the  strength  of  this  Anti-Puritan  feeling,  partly  from 
the  fact  that  Independents,  Baptists,  and  Quakers  were 
left  out  of  the  arrangement,  which  was  shaped  for  the 
benefit  of  the  Presbyterian  ministers  exclusively.  The 
fear  of  strengthening  the  Church  too  much,  which  was 
apt  to  be  an  ally  of  arbitrary  government,  influenced,  in 
some  degree,  the  minds  of  certain  statesmen.  The  great 
danger  connected  with  this  measure,  a  danger  that  was 
better  appreciated  afterwards,  was  that  of  giving  a  great 
augmentation  of  strength  to  the  party  of  non-jurors,  who 
had  forfeited  their  benefices  rather  than  acknowledge  the 
new  dynasty,  and  who,  had  the  Liturgy  been  remodeled, 
might  have  grown  into  a  powerful  sect.  It  is  stated, 
also,  by  Hallam  and  Macaulay,  that  the  Presbyterian 
ministers,  who  at  the  head  of  large  churches  in  London, 
had  a  much  higher  and  more  comfortable  station  than 
fell  to  the  lot  of  the  degenerate  and  often  ill-treated 
parish  clergy,  were  lukewarm  in  favoring  the  adoption 
of  the  scheme,  if  not  decidedly  opposed  to  it.  That  they 
took  this  position  is,  however,  questioned  by  other  well- 
informed  writers.1 

The  Revolution  of  1688  led  to  the  permanent  estab- 
lishment of  the  Presbyterian  as  the  national  Church  of 
Scotland.2  Under  Charles  II.,  Bpiscopacy  was  estab- 
lished by  law  in  Scotland,  although  some  latitude  was 
granted,  under  the  name  of  Indulgence,  with  regard  to 
the  forms  of  public  worship.    A  fierce  resistance  was  made 

1  Vaughan,  p.  461.      The  character  of  the  scheme  and  the  proceedings  of 
Convocation  are  fully  described  by  Macaulay,  ill-  424  seq. 

2  See  Hallam,  Const.  I/ist.,  ch.  xvii.      Macaulay,  Hist,  of  England  (Harpers' 
Am.  ed.),  i.  172;  ii.  103  seq.;  115  seq.,  192;  iii.  225,  622. 


FRANCE  AFTER  THE  DEATH  OF  HENRY  IV.      447 

by  adherents  of  the  Covenant  during  this  reign  and  in 
the  reign  of  James  II.,  at  whose  instance  it  was  made  a 
capital  offense  to  preach  in  a  Presbyterian  conventicle, 
or  to  attend  such  a  meeting  in  the  open  air.  James 
wanted  to  have  the  'Roman  Catholics  delivered  from  the 
operation  of  penal  laws,  but  to  allow  no  favor  to  the 
Covenanters.  The  concessions  which  he  was  at  last  com- 
pelled to  make  to  them  were  reduced  to  the  narrowest 
compass.  But  they  stood  by  their  cause  with  stubborn 
bravery,  through  all  those  troubled 

"times, 
Whose  echo  rings  through  Scotland  to  this  hour." 

In  1690,  the  system  which  was  obnoxious  to  the  body 
of  the  Scottish  people  was  abolished,  and  the  synodical 
polity  established  in  its  place.  In  the  course  of  this 
revolution,  the  vindictive  fury  of  the  populace  was  ex- 
pressed in  outrages  upon  the  Episcopal  clergy,  who 
suffered  numerous  indignities.  In  the  language  of  the 
time,  they  were  "  rabbled." 

Henry  IV.,  at  the  time  of  his  death,  was  just  ready  to 
intervene  in  the  affairs  of  Germany,  in  pursuance  of  the 
traditional  French  policy,  which  looked  to  the  reduction 
of  the  power  of  Austria,  and  the  enlargement  of  the 
boundaries  of  France.  In  the  ten  years  that  followed  his 
death,  after  Sully  had  retired  from  office,  when  the 
government  was  in  the  hands  of  Mary  de  Medici,  the 
factions  which  had  been  held  in  restraint,  were  once  more 
let  loose,  and  the  path  which  Henry  had  entered  was  for 
the  time  abandoned. 

To  maintain  an  alliance  with  Spain,  which  was  to  be 
cemented  by  a  double  matrimonial  connection,  was  the 
purpose  of  the  Queen.  Nobles  who  were  disaffected  with 
the  government,  courted  the  support  of  the  Huguenots, 
from  interested  motives.  These  influences,  in  conjunc- 
tion with  the  various  sorts  of  persecution  to  which  they 


448   PROTESTANTISM  IN  THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY. 

were  constantly  subject,  b}^  the  permission,  if  not  at  the 
instigation  of  the  government,  and  through  the  hostile 
preaching  of  the  Jesuits,  kept  the  Huguenot  churches 
in  a  state  of  perpetual  alarm  and  discontent.  Their 
counsels  were  divided,  some  advising  a  resort  to  arms, 
and  others,  like  the  aged  Du  Plessis  Mornay,  advising 
patience.  The  invasion  of  Lower  Navarre  and  Beam 
by  the  King,  in  1620,  the  seizure  of  Church  property, 
which  had  long  been  in  the  hands  of  the  Protestants, 
and  the  infliction  of  atrocious  cruelties  upon  them,  moved 
the  National  Synod,  in  1621,  by  a  small  majority,  to 
decide  upon  war.  The  Huguenots,  a  great  part  of  whom 
remained  passive  and  neutral,  were  worsted,  but  the  suc- 
cessful resistance  of  Montauban,  and,  in  the  next  year, 
of  Montpellier,  led  to  a  treaty  in  which  the  Protes- 
tants were  confirmed  in  the  possession  of  their  religious 
rights,  and  Montauban  and  Rochelle  were  still  left  in 
their  hands.  Their  peculiar  circumstances  gave  them 
more  and  more  the  character  of  a  political  party,  with 
which  malcontents  of  all  shades  would  naturally  ally 
themselves  within  the  kingdom,  and  which  would  borrow 
strength  by  a  connection  with  the  Protestants  of  other 
countries.  A  spirit  of  hostility  to  the  Crown  and  a  love 
of  independence  would  naturally  grow  in  the  Huguenot 
ranks ;  and  this  took  place  at  the  very  time  when  the 
Crown  was  entering  upon  the  work  of  fully  subjugating 
feudalism.1 

With  the  reign  of  Louis  XIII.,  and  the  administration 
of  Richelieu,  there  was  a  return,  as  regards  foreign  affairs, 
to  the  policy  of  Henry  IV.  The  aim  of  Richelieu  (1624- 
42),  as  far  as  the  government  of  France  was  concerned, 
was  to  consolidate  the  monarchy,  by  bringing  the  aristoc- 
racy into  thorough  subjection  to  the  King,  and  by  inflicting 
a  deadly  blow  on  the  old  spirit  of  feudal  independence. 
Under  him  began  the  process  of  centralization,  of  officers 

1  De  Felice,  Hist.  d.  Prot.  d.  Fi-unce,  p.  307. 


THE   CHAEACTER   AND   POLICY    OF   RICHELIEU.  449 

appointed  and  paid  by  the  government,  which  was  fully- 
developed  in  France  after  the  great  Revolution.  His 
policy  involved  the  annihilation  of  the  Huguenot  party, 
as  .  a  distinct  political  organization,  a  state  within  the 
state  ;  and  this  he  accomplished  when  La  Rochelle,  the 
last  of  their  towns,  fell  into  his  hands  (1628). 

The  foreign  policy  of  Richelieu  receives  the  general 
applause  of  Frenchmen  ;  not  so  his  domestic  rule.  The 
interests  of  the  State  must  prevail  over  every  other  con- 
sideration. This  was  his  first  maxim.  To  this  end, 
absolute  obedience  must  be  exacted  of  all  orders  of  men, 
and  disobedience  be  punished  with  unrelenting  severity. 
The  Prince  must  allow  no  interference  of  the  Church  or 
the  Pope  with  the  rights  of  the  civil  authority.  Nobles 
must  be  prevented  from  oppressing  the  people,  and  must 
serve  the  State  in  war.  The  Judges  in  Parliament  must 
be  kept  from  interfering  with  the  prerogatives  of  the 
Crown.  The  people  must  be  kept  in  absolute  subjection, 
and  be  subject  to  burdens  not  so  heavy  as  to  crush  them, 
nor  so  light  as  to  induce  them  to  forget  their  subordi- 
nation. Care  should  rather  be  had  for  the  culture  and  in- 
struction of  a  part  of  the  nation,  than  of  the  whole,  which 
might  be  mischievous.1  Richelieu  abolished  anarchy,  but 
he  made  it  possible  for  the  selfish  and  ruinous  despotism 
of  Louis  XIV.  to  arise  in  its  place.  His  destruction  of 
the  political  power  of  the  Huguenots  left  them  open  to 
the  deadly  assaults  of  rulers  more  fanatical  than  himself. 
Had  he  been  inclined,  or  if  inclined,  had  he  been  able,  to 
draw  the  Huguenot  power  on  his  side,  and  to  use  it 
against  Spain,  the  final  result  might  have  been  happier 
for  France.2  In  truth,  the  capture  of  La  Rochelle  gave 
an  impulse  to  the  emigration  of  Protestants,  and  France 

1  Richelieu's  political  Testament  is  well  epitomized  by  Hausser,  p.  586.  Of 
the  part  taken  by  Richelieu  in  the  composition  of  the  Testament  and  Memoirs, 
see  Ranke,  v.  137  seq.,  Martin,  xi.  591  seq. 

2  Martin  says  of  the  Huguenot  party,  that  it  retarded  the  encroaching 
wave  of  despotism.     "Mieux  eiit  vain  lancer  les  Rochelois  sur  l'Espagne  que 


450  PROTESTANTISM  IN  THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY. 

began  to  lose  the  most  valuable  portion  of  its  population.1 
Abroad,  Richelieu  joined  with  Sweden  and  with  the  Prot- 
estants of  Germany  in  making  war  upon  the  tlapsburg 
dynasty,  and  succeeded  in  his  double  purpose  of  breaking 
down  the  imperial  power,  and  amplifying  the  territory  of 
France.  The  work  of  Richelieu  was  carried  forward  in 
the  same  spirit  by  Mazarin,  in  the  early  part  of  the  reign 
of  Louis  XIV.  The  design  of  this  monarch  was  to  make 
himself  an  absolute  ruler  in  France,  even  in  ecclesiastical 
affairs,  without  an  actual  separation  from  the  Papacy ;  in 
other  words,  to  imitate  Henry  VIII.,  as  far  as  was  compat- 
ible with  maintaining  the  connection  of  the  French 
Church  with  Rome  ;  and,  in  relation  to  foreign  powers,  he 
aspired  to  be  the  dictator  in  the  European  commonwealth. 
His  quarrel  with,  the  Pope,  his  persecution  of  the  Jansen- 
ists,  and  his  persecution  of  the  Huguenots,  are  the  three 
principal  events  in  his  domestic  religious  policy.  His  con- 
troversy with  Innocent  X.,  grew  out  of  the  King's  attempt 
to  extend  the  right  called  la  regale  —  that  is,  the  right  to 
appropriate  the  revenues  of  a  see  and  temporarily  fill  the 
vacancy,  until  a  new  incumbent  should  take  the  oath  of 
fidelity  to  the  King  —  to  extend  this  prerogative  over  Bur- 
gundy, the  old  English  portion  of  France,  and  portions  of 
the  kingdom,  where  the  privilege  in  question  belonged 
to  the  local  ecclesiastical  authorities.  He  required  the  vas- 
sals' oath  of  the  bishops  in  these  districts,  and  they  were 
supported  in  their  refusal  to  grant  it  by  the  Pope.  Under 
the  pontificate  of  Innocent  XL,  the  Assembly  of  the 
French  Clergy,  in  1682,  supporting  the  views  of  the 
King,  passed  the   famous    four   propositions  of   Gallican 

de  les  detruire.  Richelieu  n'abusa  point  de  sa  victoire,  mais  il  rendit  facile  a  an 
autre  d'en  abuser  apres  lui;  La  Rochelle  debout,  ou  n'efit  osd  restaurer  l'ere  des 
persecutions  et  revoquor  1' c'dit  de  Nantes."  xi.  307.  Michelet  observes  that 
Henry  IV.  and  Richelieu  both  aimed  at  national  unity,  but  by  different  means 
—  the  first  by  the  use,  the  second  by  the  destruction  of  the  vital  forces.  Hist, 
de  France,  xi.  461.  Upon  Richelieu's  personal  traits,  see  Sismondi,  Hist,  des 
Frangais,  xxiii.  1  seq.  Ranke  judges  him  more  favorably. 
1  Smiles,  The  Huguenots  in  England,  etc.,  18G7. 


JANSENISM.  451 

liberty :  that  the  Pope  has  authority  only  in  spiritual 
matters,  not  over  kings  and  princes  ;  that  the  authority 
of  a  General  Council  is  above  that  of  the  Pope  ;  that  the 
Pope  is  bound  by  the  Church  laws,  and  by  the  particular 
institutions  and  usages  of  the  French  Church  ;  and  that 
the  doctrinal  decisions  of  the  Pope  are  not  irreformable, 
unless  they  are  supported  by  the  concurrence  of  the 
whole  Church.  The  long  controversy  was  at  length 
adjusted  by  an  accommodation,  under  Innocent  XII. ,  in 
which  Louis  retained  his  prerogative,  which  had  formed 
the  original  subject  of  dispute,  but  gave  up  the  four 
propositions.  He  allowed  bishops  to  retract  their  assent 
to  them,  but  would  not  suffer  them  to  be  compelled  to  do 
so.  Bossuet  had  assumed  the  post  of  a  literary  champion 
of  the  Gallican  theory,  in  behalf  of  the  King ;  but,  in 
consequence  of  the  settlement  just  referred  to,  his  cele- 
brated work  against  the  ultramontane  type  of  Catholicism 
did  not  see  the  light  until  1730. 

Jansenism  was  a  reaction  within  the  Catholic  Church, 
against  the  theology,  casuistry,  and  general  spirit  of  the 
Jesuit  order.  Molina  and  other  theologians  set  up  a  mid- 
dle type  of  doctrine,  between  the  system  of  Augustine 
and  that  of  Pelagius.  The  Molinists  ingeniously  reserved 
to  the  will  a  cooperative  part  in  conversion.  Jansenism  was 
a  revival  of  the  Augustinian  tenets  upon  the  inability  of 
the  fallen  will  and  upon  efficacious  grace.  In  this  respect, 
the  Jansenists  were  on  the  same  path  as  the  Reformers ; 
but,  unlike  these,  instead  of  going  back  of  the  Fathers 
in  order  to  abide  by  the  teaching  of  Scripture,  they, 
rested  upon  patristic  authority  and  were  content  to  follow 
implicitly  the  great  founder  of  Latin  theology.1  Bajus, 
professor  at  Louvain,  towards  the  end  of  the  sixteenth 
century,  led  the  way  in  this  re-assertion  of  Augustinian 
principles.  But  it  was  Jansenius,  also  a  professor  at 
Louvain   and   Bishop  of   Ypres,  and  his  fellow-student, 

1  Ranke,  History  of  the  Popes,  iii.  143  seq. 


452   PROTESTANTISM  IN  THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY. 

Duvergier,  Abbot  of  St.  Cyran,  who  subsequently  gave 
a  new  impetus  to  the  movement.  St.  Cyran,  Pascal,  Ar- 
nauld,  Nicole,  and  their  associates,  who  were  called  Port 
Royalists,  from  their  relation  to  the  cloister  of  that  name, 
became  the  leaders  of  the  party.  If  we  glance  at  the 
Jesuit  fraternity  as  it  was  in  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth 
century,  we  find  that  its  character  had  altered  for  the 
worse.1  Its  professed  members  were  no  longer  confined 
to  spiritual  duties,  but  shared  with  the  coadjutors  the 
management  of  colleges  and  the  administration  of  secular 
affairs.  The  religious  fervor  that  had  existed  earlier,  was 
very  much  cooled.  The  obligation  to  renounce  property, 
as  a  private  possession,  was  evaded.  A  "  mercantile 
spirit  "  crept  even  into  the  institutions  of  education  which 
had  been  established  by  the  order.  In  the  room  of  de- 
fending the  Papacy,  it  generally  sided  with  France  in  the 
contests  with  the  Holy  See.  By  the  policy  adopted  in  its 
Asiatic  missions,  the  Jesuit  order  at  length  came  into  con- 
flict with  the  Capuchins  and  Franciscans,  as  it  had  of- 
fended the  Dominicans  by  opposing  the  doctrines  of 
Thomas  Aquinas.  The  Jesuits  gradually  ceased  to  be 
absorbed  in  a  great  object,  the  restoration  of  the  Papal 
dominion  and  the  extension  of  it  over  the  globe,  and  di- 
rected their  energies  to  the  preservation  of  their  own 
power.  But  it  was  their  lax  ethical  maxims,  which  more 
than  any  other  cause,  undermined  their  reputation.  The 
"  Provincial  Letters  "  of  Pascal,  in  which  their  loose  casu- 
istry was  chastised  with  the  keenest  satire,  inflicted  upon 
tli em  a  deadly  wound.  While  the  Jansenists,  who  were  in 
favor  of  the  independence  of  the  Church,  in  opposition  to 
ultramontane  usurpations,  supported  the  King  in  his  con- 
flict with  the  Pope,  they  enjoyed  the  royal  favor ;  but 
when  they  set  themselves  against  his  effort  to  bring  the 
Church  under  his  feet,  he  turned  against  them  and  gave  his 
ear  to  the  inimical  suggestions  of  the  Jesuits.     Finally,  in 

1  Ranke,  iii.  131  seq. 


PERSECUTION    OF   THE   HUGUENOTS.  453 

1710,  he  pulled  down  the  cloister  of  Port  Royal,  and  ban- 
ished the  Jansenist  leaders.  In  1708,  Clement  XI.  had 
issued  a  bull,  prohibiting  the  "  Moral  Reflections "  of 
Quesnel,  a  work  which  had  been  approved  by  Bossuet  and 
by  Noailles,  the  Archbishop  of  Paris.  This  was  followed 
by  a  heavier  blow  at  the  Jansenist  party  in  1713,  in  the 
form  of  the  famous  bull,  Unigenitus,  which  explicitly  con- 
demned one  hundred  and  one  propositions  of  the  same 
book.  The  Pope  was  forced  into  this  action  by  the 
French  Court,  under  the  influence  of  Father  Le  Tellier, 
who  had  declared  that  there  were  more  than  a  hundred 
censurable  propositions  in  the  book.  Clement  was  obliged 
to  make  good  the  declaration  by  condemning  one  hundred 
and  one.  It  was  not  the  Jansenists  alone,  but  all  true 
Gallicans,  who  were  attacked  in  these  proceedings.  This 
controversy  was  continued  in  the  next  reign,  after  the 
death  of  Louis  XIV.,  between  the  Opposants  or  Appell- 
ants on  the  one  hand,  and  the  Acceptants  or  Constitution- 
air  es,  the  adversaries  of  the  Jansenists,  on  the  other. 
The  Papal  authority  was  brought  to  bear  against  the 
Jansenist  opinions,  in  subservience  to  the  dictation  of  the 
Court,  and  this  coercion  had  a  demoralizing  effect  upon 
the  French  clergy,  many  of  whom  were  forced  into  a  de- 
nial of  their  real  convictions.  The  Jansenists  survived  in 
the  separatist  archiepiscopal  Church  of  Utrecht,  and  still 
more  in  combination  with  the  tendencies  to  liberalism, 
out  of  which  grew  the  political  and  religious  revolutions 
that  marked  the  close  of  the  last  cent  my.1 

The  Huguenots,  under  Richelieu  and  Mazarin,  had  been 
protected  in  their  religious  freedom.  It  was  only  as  a 
political  organization  that  these  statesmen  had  made  war 
upon  them.  After  the  death  of  Mazarin,  in  1661,  a 
party  that  was  hostile  to  the  Protestants  gained  an  in- 
creasing influence  over  the  King,  whose  personal  vices 
were  attended  with  forebodings  of  remorse,  and  with  su- 
1  Niedner,  Kirehengeschichte,  p.  751. 


454   PROTESTANTISM  IN  THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY. 

perstitious  anxieties  that  sought  relief  in  the  persecution 
of  heresy.  He  fell  under  the  influence  of  his  Jesuit  Con- 
fessor, La  Chaise,  with  whom  were  joined  the  war-minis- 
ter, the  Marquis  de  Louvois,  and  even  Madam  Maintenon, 
his  wife,  formerly  a  Protestant.  Hence  the  great  attempt 
to  make  proselytes'  by  the  use  of  all  varieties  of  cruelty. 
ww  For  many  years,"  says  Martin,  the  government  of  Louis 
XIV.  "  had  been  acting  towards  the  Reformation  as 
towards  a  victim  entangled  in  a  noose,  which  is  drawn 
tighter  and  tighter  till  it  strangles  its  prey."  Declara- 
tions and  edicts  of  the  most  oppressive  character  had  fol- 
lowed one  another  in  rapid  succession.  At  length  the 
atrocious  scheme  of  the  dragonade,  or  the  billeting  of 
soldiers  in  Huguenot  families,  was  resorted  to.  Over  the 
pretended  conversions  effected  by  such  means,  the  profli- 
gate rulers  of  France  sang  praises  to  God.  Louis  XIV. 
endeavored  to  quiet  his  own  fear  of  hell  by  making  a 
hell  for  his  unoffending  subjects.  The  penalty  of  death 
was  denounced  against  all  converts  who  relapsed  to  the 
Huguenot  faith.  In  the  course  of  three  years,  fifty  thou- 
sand families  had  fled  from  the  country.  In  1685,  the 
Edict  of  Nantes,  the  great  charter  of  Protestant  rights, 
was  revoked.  The  churches  of  the  Huguenots  were 
seized ;  and  although  emigration  was  forbidden  to  the 
laity,  not  far  from  a  quarter  of  a  million  of  refugees  es- 
caped, to  enrich  Protestant  countries  to  which  they  re- 
moved, by  their  skill  and  industry.  Many  remained  firm 
under  the  severest  trials,  and  assembled  in  forests  and  by- 
places  to  celebrate  their  worship.  It  was  not  until  1788 
that  their  marriages,  which  had  been  treated  as  invalid, 
were  pronounced  legal ;  and  they  did  not  gain  their  rights 
in  full,  until  the  Revolution. 

"  France  was  impoverished,"  writes  Martin,  u  not  only 
in  Frenchmen  who  exiled  themselves,  but  in  those  much 
more  numerous,  who  remained  in  spite  of  themselves, 
discouraged,  ruined,  whether  they  openly  resisted  perse- 


TRIUMPHS  AND  DEFEAT   OF   LOUTS  XIV.  455 

cution,  or  suffered  some  external  observances  of  Catholi- 
cism to  be  wrung  from  them,  all  having  neither  energy  in 
work,  or  security  in  life  ;  it  was  really  the  activity  of 
more  than  a  million  of  men  that  France  lost,  and  of  the 
million  that  produced  most."  It  is  a  significant  fact, 
in  the  light  of  recent  events,  that  many  of  the  refugees 
were  received  by  the  Elector  Frederic,  and  helped  to  build 
up  Berlin,  then  a  small  city  of  twelve  thousand  inhab- 
itants. 

After  the  close  of  the  war  of  the  Spanish  Succession 
(1713),  at  the  instigation  of  Le  Tellier,  who  had  suc- 
ceeded La  Chaise  as  a  kind  of  minister  of  ecclesiastical 
affairs,  the  persecution  against  the  Protestants  was  re- 
newed, in  forms  of  aggravated  and  ingenious  cruelty. 

In  his  foreign  policy,  Louis  XIV.  succeeded  brilliantly 
for  a  time,  but  was  doomed  to  terrible  disappointment 
and  defeat.  He  made  himself  as  formidable  by  his 
power  and  ambition  as  Philip  II.  had  been  in  the  latter 
part  of  the  preceding  century  ;  and  like  him  he  was  des- 
tined to  experience  a  mortifying  failure,  as  well  as  to  lay 
the  foundation  of  untold  calamities  for  his  nation.  His 
attack  on  the  Spanish  Netherlands,  which  were  regarded 
by  Holland  as  a  bulwark  against  his  inroads  and  aggres- 
sion, led  to  the  triple  alliance  of  Holland,  England,  and 
Sweden,  in  1668,  the  object  of  which  was  to  compel  him 
to  conclude  a  peace  with  Spain.  The  same  year  he  con- 
cluded with  Spain  the  Peace  of  Aix  la  Chapelle.  The 
resentment  of  Louis  against  Holland,  led  him  to  form, 
in  1670,  the  secret  treaty  with  Charles  II.,  in  behalf 
of  Catholicism  and  absolutism.  But  the  unpopularity 
of  the  war  against  Holland  among  the  English,  and  the 
necessity  under  which  Charles  was  placed,  of  making 
peace  with  the  Dutch,  together  with  a  like  course  on 
the  part  of  other  allies  of  Louis,  led  to  the  Treaty  of 
Nimeguen  in  1678-9,  by  which  he  gained  a  number  of 
towns   and  fortresses   in    the    Netherlands,    besides  cer- 


456   PROTESTANTISM  IN  THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY. 

tain  German  places.  Holland  was  left  in  the  same  state 
as  before  the  war.  The  continued  aggressions, of  Louis 
occasioned  the  grand  alliance  of  the  European  powers 
against  him,  and  the  war  of  ten  years,  in  which  William 
of  Orange  was  the  foremost  leader  among  the  allies.  In 
the  early  part  of  the  previous  war,  when  Holland  was 
overrun  by  the  French  armies  and  reduced  almost  to 
despair,  the  Republican  magistrates  were  overthrown 
and  the  government  placed  in  the  hands  of  William. 
By  him  the  courage  of  the  nation  had  been  roused,  and, 
as  the  only  means  of  defense,  they  had  cut  through  the 
dikes  and  inundated  the  country.  Thenceforward  Will- 
iam was  the  most  determined  and  dangerous  antagonist 
of  Louis,  and  the  moving  spirit  of  the  coalitions  formed 
against  him.  In  the  Peace  of  Ryswick,  in  1697,  Louis 
renounced  his  support  of  the  Stuarts,  and  admitted 
William  III.  to  be  the  rightful  king  of  Great  Britain 
and  Ireland.  The  war  of  the  Spanish  succession,  in 
which  Louis  sought  to  supplant  the  Austrian  House  in 
Spain  and  to  combine  Spain  with  France,  by  placing  his 
grandson,  Philip,  Duke  of  Anjou,  on  the  Spanish  throne, 
was  closed  in  1713,  by  the  Peace  of  Utrecht.  It  was 
provided  that  France  and  Spain  should  never  be  united 
under  one  sovereign ;  the  Spanish  Netherlands  were 
transferred  to  Austria  ;  and  the  Bourbon  Prince  was  left 
on  the  throne  of  Spain,  and  his  title  was  acknowledged 
by  the  allies,  in  1714.  The  "  grand  monarch  "  came 
out  of  the  wars  which  had  been  kindled  by  his  ambition, 
thwarted  and  reduced  to  distress.  A  significant  feature 
of  the  Peace  of  Utrecht  was  the  recognition  of  the 
Elector  of  Brandenburg  as  king  of  Prussia.  As  Sweden 
sank  down  from  the  eminence  which  it  held  for  a  time, 
as  the  leading  Protestant  power  in  the  North,  Prussia 
was  rising  to  take  her  place. 

The  reign  of  Louis  XIV.  effected  the  utter  paralysis 
and  prostration   of   the  Catholic  Reaction.     The   Popes 


PROSTRATION   OF  PAPAL  AUTHORITY.  457 

found  themselves  unable  to  contend  with  the  temporal 
power.1  The  disposition  of  several  pontiffs  to  favor  the 
side  of  Spain  and  Austria,  sharpened  the  antagonism 
between  them  and  the  French  king,  and  subjected  them 
to  humiliation.  When  Clement  XI.  abandoned  the  anti- 
French  policy,  he  was  obliged  to  succumb  to  the  threats 
of  the  imperialists.  Treaties  of  peace  were  concluded 
between  the  European  nations,  in  which  the  interests 
and  even  rights  of  the  Popes  were  involved,  but  in  re- 
gard to  which  they  were  not  consulted.  The  Church  of 
France  remained  Catholic  ;  it'  was  even  guilty  of  a  re- 
volting persecution  ;  but  it  united  with  the  monarch  in 
abridging  the  power  and  thwarting  the  designs  of  the 
Holy  See.  Not  only  was  the  Catholic  world  divided 
into  two  parties,  the  Austrian  and  French,  which  the 
Pope  could  not  control,  but  the  Protestant  States  ac- 
quired a  preponderance  of  power ;  and  the  Court  of 
Innocent  XI.  naturally  sympathized  with  the  coalition, 
although  its  forces  were  predominantly  Protestant,  the 
end  of  which  was  to  curb  the  ambition  of  Louis  XIV. 

Even  the  persecuting  measures  which  Louis  XIV. 
adopted  ostensibly  in  behalf  of  the  Catholic  religion, 
were  in  the  highest  degree  harmful  to  it ;  for  the  hatred 
of  these  atrocious  proceedings  contributed  to  swell  the 
current  of  antipathy  to  the  Church  and  to  religion, 
which  was  gathering  force  in  the  minds  of  men.  The 
Bull  U?iigenitus,  as  it  condemned  Jansenism  and  Aug- 
ustinian  doctrine,  brought  the  Jesuits  into  alliance  with 
the  Papal  See.  But  this  Bull,  with  the  cognate  meas- 
ures, divided  the  clergy  and  excited  all  the  elements  of 
opposition  to  the  Papal  supremacy  over  the  Gallican 
Church.  The  Jansenists  became  virtual  auxiliaries  of 
the  rising  party,  in  whom  the  spirit  of  innovation  had 
full  sway. 

Louis  XIV.  died  in  1715.     Voltaire  was  then  about 

1  Ranke,  iii.  156. 


458   PROTESTANTISM  IN  THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY. 

twenty-one  years  old.  The  age  of  philosophy  and  illum- 
inism,  of  religious  and  political  revolutions,  was  approach- 
ing. The  third  estate,  the  middle  class,  was  preparing  to 
grasp  the  power  which  had  been  wrested  from  the  nobles 
and  concentrated  in  the  throne.  Freethinking,  trans- 
planted from  England,  was  taking  root  and  spreading 
through  all  orders  of  French  society,  thence  to  be  dif- 
fused over  Europe.  The  fabric  of  political  and  religious 
despotism  which  Louis  XIV.  had  erected,  was  to  go 
down  before  the  end  of  the  century,  in  a  revolutionary 
tempest. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 
THE   PROTESTANT   THEOLOGY. 

Protestantism,  under  whatever  diversities  of  form 
it  appeared,  and  notwithstanding  the  varieties  of  character 
and  of  opinion  which  are  observed  among  its  leaders,  is 
distinguished  as  a  system  of  belief  by  two  principles,  t 
These  are  justification  by  faith  alone,  and  the  exclusive 
authority  of  the  Scriptures.1 

The  subject  round  which  the  Protestant  discussions  re- 
volved, and  out  of  which  they  originally  sprang,  is  the 
reconciliation  of  man  to  God.  The  controversy  with  the  * 
Roman  Catholics  did  not  relate  to  the  branches  of  theol- 
ogy on  which  the  ancient  councils  had  spoken.  The 
Apostolic  symbol,  the  creeds  of   Nicaea    and  Chalcedon, 

1  Among  the  books  of  reference  respecting  the  Protestant  and  the  Catholic 
Theology,  are  the  Collections  of  Creeds;  the  Lutheran  (edited  by  Hase,  1846); 
The  Reformed  (by  Niemeyer,  1840);  The  Roman  Catholic  (by  Streitwolf  u. 
Klener,  1846).  Calvin's  Institutes  and  Melancthon's  Loci  Communes  are 
the  principal  doctrinal  treatises  on  the  Protestant  side,  in  the  age  of  the  Ref- 
ormation. Bellarmine  is  still  the  ablest  controversialist  on  the  Catholic  side 
since  the  Tridentine  Council;  Disputationes  de  Controversiis  Christiana  Fidel 
adv.  hujus  Ttmporis  hcereticos  (Rome,  1581, 1582, 1593 ).  The  ablest  antagonists 
of  Bellarmine  were  Martin  Chemnitz,  Examen  Concil.  Trid.  (1565-73),  and  the 
Huguenot  theologian,  Chamier,  Panstratiai  Catholics,  etc.  (Geneva,  1626; 
Frankfort,  1629).  A  convenient  manual  of  Catholic  Theology  is  Perrone, 
Pralectiones  Theological  (2  vols.,  1847).  Among  the  modern  works  on  Prot- 
estant Theology  are  Planck,  Gsch.  d.  prot.  Lehrbegriffs  (1781-1800);  Gass, 
Gsch.  d.prot.  Dogmatik  (18G2);  A.  Schweizer,  Die  prot.  Central-dogmen  inner- 
halb  d.  ref.  Kirche  (1854);  Heppe,  Dogmatik  d.  deutsch  Prot.  (1857);  Dorner, 
Gsch.  d.prot.  Theol.  (1867);  Schenkel,  Das  Wesen  d.  Prot.  (1846).  See  also 
Werner,  Gsch.  d.  kath.  Theol.  seit  d.  Trid.  Cone.  (1866).  To  these  are  to  be 
added  numerous  modern  works  on  Symbolics  and  on  the  History  of  Doctrine ; 
by  Neander,  Klee  (Roman  Cath.),  Baumgarten-Crusius,  Hagenbach,  Baur, 
Mohler  (Rom.  Cath.),  Nitzsch,  Winer,  Shedd,  etc. 


460  THE  PROTESTANT  THEOLOGY. 

were  accepted  in  common  by  both  parties.  In  respect  to 
the  Trinity  and  the  person  of  Christ,  they  stooji  on  the 
same  ground.  On  the  subject  of  Anthropology,  the  doc- 
trine of  sin,  it  is  true  that  the  Reformers  earnestly  asserted 
the  Augustinian  views,  in  opposition  to  that  modified  opin- 
ion, less  hostile  to  the  Pelagian  tenet,  which  had  been  dis- 
tinctly espoused  by  one  of  the  leading  mediaeval  schools, 
the  followers  of  Scotus,  and  had  affected  all  of  the 
scholastic  systems.  It  was  in  their  profound  sense  of  the 
reality  of  sin,  and  of  its  dominion  in  the  human  will, 
that  the  Protestants  laid  the  foundations  of  their  theol- 
ogy. Zwingle  alone,  of  all  the  foremost  Reformers,  called 
in  question  the  fact  of  native  guilt,  as  this  is  asserted  in 
the  Augustinian  theology ;  and  even  he  did  not  adhere 
uniformly  to  his  theory.  But  the  doctrine  of  sin  was 
only  indirectly  and  subordinately  brought  into  the  de- 
bate.1 The  same  might  be  said  of  the  Atonement,  since 
the  body  of  the  reformers  rested  on  the  Anselmic  idea  of 
satisfaction,  which  likewise  formed  a  part  of  the  opposing 
creed.2  The  point  of  difference  was  on  the  vital  question 
how  the  soul,  burdened  with  self-condemnation,  is  to  ob- 
tain the  forgiveness  of  sins  and  peaceful  reunion  to  God 
in  the  character  of  a  reconciled  father.  In  the  teachings, 
injunctions,  services,  ceremonies  of  the  Church,  the  Re- 

1  The  Protestants  held  that  the  moral  perfections  —  that  is,  the  holiness  —  of 
the  first  man  are  concreated ;  the  Catholics,  that  they  are  superadded  gifts  of 
grace.  Cat.  Rom.,  i.  ii.  qu.  19.  This  doctrine  of  the  donum  supernaturale  is 
drawn  out  in  full  by  Bellarmine,  Grat.  primi  Horn.,  ii.  The  effect  of  the  fall  is 
said  by  the  Catholics  to  be  the  loss  of  the  donum  supernaturale,  and  a  conse- 
quent, though  indirect,  weakening  of  the  natural  powers  {rulnera  natural);  by 
the  Protestants  it  was  held  to  be  a  positive  depravation  of  human  nature.  Bel- 
larmine, Amis.  Grat.,  in.  i. ;  Conf.  August.,  p.  9;  Apol.  August.  Con/'.,  p.  51; 
Conf.  Helvet.,  n.  cc.  viii.,  ix. 

2  The  doctrine  common  to  Anselm  and  Aquinas,  that  the  satisfaction  of  Christ 
is  absolute  in  itself,  and  infinite,  was  denied  only  by  the  school  of  Scotus,  who 
held  that  it  is  finite,  but  is  accepted  by  the  divine  will  —  acceptilatio  —  for  more 
than  its  intrinsic  worth.  The  Tridentine  creed  denies  that  pardon  carries  with 
it  the  remission  of  all  punishment;  but  asserts  that  the  satisfaction  rendered  by 
the  sinner  is  available  only  through  the  satisfaction  of  Christ.  Sess.  xiv.  c. 
viii.     See  Baumgarten-Crusius,  Dogmengsch.,  ii  273,  n.  a. 


JUSTIFICATION   BY   FAITH.  461 

formers  had  sought  for  this  infinite  good  in  vain.  They 
found  it  in  the  doctrine  of  gratuitous  pardon,  from  the 
bare  mercy  of  God,  through  the  mediation  of  Christ ;  a 
pardon  that  waits  for  nothing  but  acceptance  on  the  part 
of  the  soul  —  the  belief,  the  trust,  the  faith  of  the  pen- 
itent. Everything  of  the  nature  of  satisfaction  or  merit 
on  the  part  of  the  offender  is  precluded,  by  the  utterly 
gratuitous  nature  of  the  gift,  by  the  sufficiency  of  the 
Redeemer's  expiation.  Every  assertion  of  the  necessity 
of  works  or  merit  on  the  side  of  the  offender,  as  the 
ground  of  forgiveness,  is  a  disparagement  of  the  Re- 
deemer's mercy  and  of  his  expiatory  office.  Faith,  thus 
laying  hold  of  a  free  forgiveness  and  reconnecting  the 
soul  with  God,  is  the  fountain  of  a  new  life  of  holiness, 
which  depends  not  on  fear  and  homage  to  law,  but  on 
gratitude  and  on  filial  sentiments.  Christ  himself  nour- 
ishes this  new  life  by  spiritual  influences  that  flow  into 
the  soul  through  the  channel  of  its  fellowship  with  Him. 
Justification  is  thus  a  forensic  term  ;  it  is  equivalent  to 
the  remission  of  sins.  To  justify,  signifies  not  to  make 
the  offender  righteous,  but  to  treat  him  as  if  he  were 
righteous,  to  deliver  him  from  the  accusation  of  the  law 
by  the  bestowal  of  a  pardon.  Saving  faith  is  not  a  vir- 
tue to  be  rewarded,  but  an  apprehensive  act ;  the  hand 
that  takes  the  free  gift.  Such,  in  a  brief  statement,  was 
the  cardinal  principle  of  the  Protestant  interpretation  of 
the  Gospel.1  The  Christian  life  has  its  centre  in  this  ex- 
perience of  forgiveness.  Virtues  of  character  and  vic- 
tories over  temptation  grow  out  of  it.  Christian  ethics 
are  united  to  Christian  theology  by  this  vital  bond. 

But  to  what  authority  could  the  Reformers  appeal  in 
behalf  of  their  proposition  ?  What  assurance  had  they 
of  its  truth  ?     How  did  they  arrive  at  the  knowledge  of 

1  This  idea  of  justification  is  the  key-note  in  Luther's  Commentary  on  the 
Epistle  to  the  Galatians,  and  in  Melancthon's  Commentary  on  the  Epistle  to  the 
Romans.  It  is  the  distinctive  feature  of  the  Protestant  exegesis  of  the  writings 
of  Paul. 


462  THE  PROTESTANT   THEOLOGY. 

it  ?  They  had  found  this  obscured  and  half -forgotten 
truth  recorded,  as  they  believed,  with  perfect  clearness,  in 
the  Scriptures.  The  authority  of  the  Scriptures  was  fully 
acknowledged  by  the  Church  in  which  they  had  been 
trained,  however  it  might  superadd  to  them  other  authori- 
tative sources  of  knowledge,  and  however  it  might  deny 
the  competence  of  the  individual  to  interpret  the  Bible 
for  himself.  That  Christ  spoke  in  the  Scriptures,  all  ad- 
mitted. What  his  voice  was  the  Reformers  could  not 
doubt ;  for  the  truth  that  he  uttered  was  one  of  which 
they  had  an  immediate,  spiritual  recognition.  Their  in- 
terpretation verified  itself  to  their  hearts  by  the  light  and 
peace  which  that  truth  brought  with  it,  as  well  as  to  their 
understandings  on  a  critical  examination  of  the  text. 
The  Church,  then,  that  denied  their  interpretation  and 
commanded  them  to  abandon  it,  was  in  error  ;  it  could 
not  be  the  authorized,  infallible  interpreter  of  Holy  Writ. 
Thus  the  traditional  belief  in  the  authority  of  the  Roman 
Church  gave  way,  and  the  principle  of  the  exclusive 
authority  of  the  Scriptures,  as  the  rule  of  faith,  took  its 
place.  By  this  process  the  second  of  the  distinctive 
principles  of  Protestantism  was  reached.  That  the  mean- 
ing of  the  Bible  is  sufficiently  plain  and  intelligible  was 
implied  in  this  conclusion.  Hence,  the  right  of  private 
judgment  is  another  side  of  the  same  doctrine. 

In  the  adoption  of  this,  which  has  been  called  the  for- 
mal, in  distinction  from  the  first,  which  is  termed  the 
material  principle  of  Protestantism,  there  was  no  dissent 
among  the  churches  of  the  reformed  faith.  Thus  the 
Anglican  body,  which  surpassed  all  other  Protestant 
churches  in  its  deference  to  the  fathers  and  to  the  first  cen- 
turies, affirms  this  principle.  It  accepts,  in  the  eighth 
article,  the  ancient  creeds,  on  the  ground  that  they  may 
be  proved  by  most  certain  warrants  of  Holy  Scripture ; 
it  declares,  in  the  nineteenth  article,  that  the  Church  of 
Rome,  as  well  as  those  of  Jerusalem,  Alexandria,  and  An- 


ROMAN    CATHOLIC   DOCTRINE   OF   JUSTIFICATION.         463 

tiocli  have  erred  in  matters  of  faith  ;  and  in  the  twenty  - 
first  article  it  asserts  that  general  councils  may  err  and 
have  erred  in  things  pertaining  to  the  rule  of  piety,  and 
that  their  decrees  are  to  be  accepted  no  farther  than  they 
can  be  shown  to  be  conformable  to  the  sacred  writings. 

The  two  principles  are  united  in  the  fundamental  idea 
of  the  direct  relation  of  Christ  to  the  believer  as  his  per- 
sonal Redeemer  and  Guide. 

The  Roman  Catholic  theory  of  Justification  may  be  so 
stated  as  to  seem  to  approximate  closely  to  that  of  the 
Protestants  ;  but  on  a  close  examination,  the  two  doc- 
trines are  seen  to  be  discordant  with  one  another.  In 
the  formula  which  defines  the  condition  of  salvation  to 
be  faith  formed  by  love  —  fides  f ormata  caritate  —  a 
separation  between  faith  and  love  is  conceived  of,  in 
which  the  latter  becomes  the  adjunct  of  the  former  ;  and 
inasmuch  as  love  is  the  injunction  of  the  law,  a  door  is 
open  for  a  theory  of  works  and  human  merit,  and  for  all 
the  discomforts  of  that  legal  and  introspective  piety  from 
which  the  evangelical  doctrine  furnished  the  means  of 
escape.  Faith,  in  the  Protestant  view,  is  necessarily  the 
source  of  good  works,  which  flow  from  it  as  a  stream  from 
a  fountain  ;  which  grow  from  it  as  fruit  from  a  tree. 
The  tendency  of  the  Catholic  system  is  to  conjoin  works 
with  faith,  and  thus  to  resolve  good  works  into  a  form  of 
legal  obedience.  Moreover,  Justification  does  not  begin, 
as  in  the  Protestant  theology,  with  the  forgiveness  of 
sins  ;  but  the  first  element  in  Justification  is  the  infusion 
of  inward,  personal  righteousness,  and  pardon  follows. 
Justification  is  gradual.1  By  this  incipient  excellence  of 
character,  the  Christian  is  made  capable  of  meriting 
grace ;  and  however  this  doctrine  may  be  qualified  and 
guarded  by  founding  all  merit  ultimately  on  the  merits 
of  Christ,  from  which  the  sanctification  of  the  disciple 
flows,    the   legal    characteristic  cleaves  to   the   doctrine. 

1  Concil.  Trident.  Sess.  vi.  c  x. 


464  THE  PROTESTANT  THEOLOGY. 

But  the  wide  difference  of  the  Catholic  conception  from 
the  Protestant  becomes  evident,  when  it  is  remembered 
that  according  to  the  former,  for  all  sins  committed  after 
baptism,  the  offender  owes  and  must  render  satisfaction  — 
a  satisfaction  that  derives  its  efficacy,  to  be  sure,  from 
that  made  by  Christ,  but  yet  is  not  the  less  indispensable 
and  real.  And  how  is  Justification  imparted  ?  How 
does  it  begin  ?  It  is  communicated  through  baptism, 
and,  hence,  generally,  in  infancy.  It  is  Justification  by 
baptism  rather  than  by  faith  ;  and  for  all  sins  subse- 
quently committed,  penances  are  due ;  satisfaction  must 
be  offered  by  the  transgressor  himself.  We  are  thus 
brought  to  the  whole  theory  of  the  Church  and  of  the 
Sacraments,  in  which  the  discrepancy  between  the  two 
theologies  is  most  manifest. 

If  the  conflict  of  the  two  theologies  were  limited  to  this 
topic  of  Justification,  and  of  the  relation  of  faith  to  works  ; 
if  the  dispute  could  be  shut  up  to  subtle  questions  and 
tenuous  distinctions  of  theological  science,  it  might  be 
more  easily  settled.  On  these  questions  a  meeting-point 
might  possibly  be  found.  But  the  Protestant  interpre- 
tation of  the  Gospel  involved  a  denial  of  the  prerogatives 
of  the  vast  Institution  which  assumed  to  intervene  be- 
tween the  soul  and  God,  as  the  almoner  of  grace  and  the 
ruler  of  the  beliefs  and  lives  of  men. 

The  Reformers,  in  harmony  with  their  idea  of  the  way 
of  salvation  which  has  been  described,  brought  forward 
the  conception  of  the  invisible  Church.  The  true  Church, 
they  said,  is  composed  of  all  believers  in  Christ,  all  who 
are  spiritually  united  to  Him  ;  and  of  the  Church  as  thus 
defined,  He  is  the  Head.  This  is  the  Holy  Catholic 
Church,  to  which  the  Apostles'  Creed  refers,  and  in 
which  the  disciple  professes  his  belief ;  "  for  we  believe," 
said  Luther,  referring  to  this  passage  of  the  creed,  "  not 
in  what  we  see,  but  in  what  is  invisible."  The  visible 
Church,  on  the  contrary,  is  a  congregation  of  believers 


DOCTRINE   RESPECTING    THE   CHURCH.  465 

in  which  the  word  of  God  is  preached  and  the  sacra- 
ments administered  essentially  as  they  were  instituted 
by  Christ.  But  no  single  visible  body  of  Christians  can 
justly  assume  to  be  the  entire  Church  ;  much  less  exclude 
from  the  pale  of  salvation  all  who  are  not  included  in 
their  number.  The  true  Church  is  an  ideal,  which  is 
realized  but  imperfectly  in  any  existing  organization. 
External  societies  of  Christians  are  more  or  less  pure  ; 
they  approximate,  in  different  degrees,  to  a  conformity 
to  the  idea  of  the  real  or  invisible  community.  The 
Protestants  carefully  refrained  from  arrogating  for  the 
bodies  which  they  organized  an  exclusive  title  to  be  con- 
sidered the  Church.  When  charged  with  being  apostates 
from  the  Church,  and  when  themselves  denouncing  the 
Papacy  as  the  embodiment  of  Antichrist,  they  never 
denied  that  the  true  Church  of  Christ  was  on  the  side  of 
their  opponents,  as  well  as  with  themselves.  "  I  say," 
said  Luther,  "  that  under  the  Pope  is  real  Christianity, 
yea  the  true  pattern  of  Christianity,  and  many  pious, 
great  saints."  Calvin  has  similar  expressions ;  for  ex- 
ample, in  his  noted  Letter  to  Sadolet. 

The  Roman  Catholic  theory  affixes  the  attributes  of 
unity,  holiness,  catholicity,  and  apostolicity  to  the  exter- 
nal, visible  society  of  which  the  Bishop  of  Rome  is  the 
chief,  and  declares  that  outside  of  this  body  there  is  no 
salvation.  The  notes  of  the  true  Church  belong  to  this 
society  ;  and  accordingly  the  promises  made  in  the  New 
Testament  to  the  Church,  and  the  privileges  there 
ascribed  to  it,  are  claimed  for  this  body  exclusively. 
The  Church,  says  Bellarmine,  is  something  as  tangible 
as  the  Republic  of  Venice.  In  opposition  to  the  second 
of  the  Protestant  principles,  the  traditions  of  the  oral 
teaching  of  Christ  and  of  the  Apostles,  which,  it  is 
claimed  are  infallibly  preserved  in. the  Church,  through 
the  supernatural  aid  of  the  indwelling  Spirit,  are  put 
on  a  level  with   Scripture  ;   and  of  Scripture  itself,  the 


466  THE  PROTESTANT  THEOLOGY. 

Church  is  the  appointed,  unerring  expounder.  It  was 
not  an  uncommon  thing  in  the  Middle  Ages  for  doc- 
trines to  be  attributed  to  revelations  made  to  the 
Church,  subsequent  to  the  Apostolic  age ;  doctrines  not 
supposed  to  be  contained  in  the  Scriptures.  But  the 
prevailing  Catholic  doctrine  since  the  Reformation  finds 
the  entire  revelation  as  a  complete  deposit,  in  the  written 
and  oral  teaching  of  Christ  and  the  Apostles.  The  con- 
nection of  the  individual  with  Christ  is  not  possible, 
except  through  his  connection  with  the  Church.  In  the 
Catholic  theory,  the  invisible  Church  is  not  only  included 
in  the  visible  organization  in  communion  with  the  Papal 
see,  but  it  cannot  exist  out  of  it  or  apart  from  it.1 

As  an  inseparable  part  of  the  Catholic  theory  of  the 
Church  stands  the  doctrine  of  a  particular  priesthood 
and  of  the  sacraments.  The  idea  of  the  sacraments  was 
fully  developed  by  the  Schoolmen,  and  the  number, 
which  had  been  indefinite  and  variable,  was  fixed  at 
seven.  It  is  essential  to  the  conception  of  the  sacrament 
that  it  should  efficiently  convey  the  hidden  gift  of  grace 
which  it  symbolizes.  It  is  the  channel  through  which 
the  grace  is  communicated  ;  the  ordained  and  indispens- 
able vehicle  by  which  it  passes  to  the  individual ;  the 
instrument  by  the  direct  operation  of  which  the  divine 
mercy  reaches  the  soul.2  Hence  the  efficacy  of  a  sacra- 
ment is    independent  of   the   personal  character  of   the 

1  In  the  later  editions  of  his  Loci,  Melancthon  treats  of  the  visible  church 
alone.  He  was  led  to  this  course,  not  by  a  change  of  opinion  respecting  the 
reality  of  the  conception  of  the  invisible  church,  but  in  consequence  of  the 
aberrations,  in  a  spiritualistic  direction,  of  the  Anabaptists.  He  is  concerned  to 
guard  against  the  notion  that  the  invisible  church  is  a  mere  ideal,  or  is  to  be 
sought  for  outside  of  all  existing  ecclesiastical  organizations  —  a  mere  Platonic 
republic.  See  Julius  Miiller,  Dogmatische  Abhandlunycn  (Die  unsichtbare 
Kirche),  pp.  297,  298. 

2  "Per  quae  omnis  vera  justitia  vel  incipit,  vel  coepta  augetur,  vel  amissa 
reparatur."  Concil.  Trid.  Sess.  vii.  Proemium.  "Siquis  dixerit  sacramenta 
novae  legis  non  esse  ad  salutem  necessaria;  "  "siquis  dixerit,  per  ipsa  novae 
legis  sacramenta  ex  opere  operato  non  conferri  gratiam,  anathema  sit."  Ibid., 
iv.  viii. 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC  DOCTRINE  OF  THE  SACK  VMENTS.   467 

administrator,  provided  he  have  the  intention  to  perform 
the  sacramental  act ;  for  such  an  intention  is  requisite. 
The  sacrament,  moreover,  imparts  a  divine  gift  which  is 
not  involved  in,  nor  produced  by,  the  faith  of  the  recip- 
ient :  it  is  ex  opere  operato.  The  effect  is  wrought,  in 
case  the  recipient  interposes  no  obstacle.1  The  sacra- 
ments are  the  means  of  grace,  and  are  essential  to  the 
beginning  and  growth  of  the  Christian  life  ;  they  meet 
the  individual  at  his  birth,  and  attend  him  to  his  burial. 
They  are  to  the  soul  and  the  religious  life,  what  bread  is 
to  the  body  ;  nor  is  their  effect  confined  to  the  soul ;  it 
extends  even  to  the  physical  nature.  In  the  Sacrament 
of  the  Altar,  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ  are  literally 
present.  Christ  is  once  more  offered,  an  unbloody  sacri- 
fice, through  which  the  benefits  of  the   sacrifice   on   the 

1  This  is  the  declaration  of  the  Council  of  Trent  (sess.  vii.  can.  vi.):  "  Si  quia 
dixerit  sacramenta  novae  legis  non  continere  gratiam,  quam  signiticat;  aat 
gratiam  ipsam  non  ponentibus  obicem  non  conferre  ....  anathema  sit."  The 
later  Schoolmen  taught  that  the  sacraments  are  efficacious,  unless  a  mortal 
6in  creates  an  obstacle  in  the  way  of  the  working  of  divine,  grace.  Duns  Sco- 
tus  (1.  iv.  d.  1.  qu.  6)  says:  "Non  requiritur  ibi  bonus  motus  interior,  qui  merea- 
tur  gratiam,"  etc.  Gabriel  Biel  (Sententt,  1.  iv.  d.  1.  qu.  3.)  maintains  the 
same  proposition.  It  is  this  tenet  which  the  Reformers  attacked.  After  the 
Reformation,  Bellarmine  says  (De  Sacr.,  ii.  1.):  "Voluntas,  tides  et  poenitentia 
in  suscipiente  adulto  necessario  requiruntur  ex  parte  subjecti,"  etc.  M<  filer 
{Symbolik,  c.  iv.  §  28),  reaffirms  this  last  doctrine.  One  of  the  first  propositions 
which  Cajetan  required  Luther  to  retract  was:  Non  sacramentum,  sed  fides  in 
sacramento  justilicat.  The  modification  of  the  Catholic  representation  on  this 
point  since  the  Reformation,  is  referred  to  by  Winer,  Comparative  Darstellung, 
p.  126;  Hase,  Prat.  Polemik,  p.  350  seq.  See  also  Nitzsch,  Prot.  Beantwortung 
auf  Mahler  (Studien  u.  Kritiken,  1834,  p.  853).  It  is  still  to  be  observed,  how- 
ever, that  the  "fides,"  which  Bellarmine  requires  in  the  recipient  of  the  sacra- 
ment, is  not  faith,  in  the  Protestant  sense,  but  the  assent  to  doctrinal  truth. 

As  to  the  "  intention  "  in  the  priest  which  is  requisite  to  the  validity  of  the  sac- 
rament, some  make  it  external  — an  intention  to  do,  as  to  the  outward  form  of  the 
sacrament,  what  the  church  does;  while  others  make  it  "internal" — an  intention 
to  fulfill  the  end  or  design  of  the  sacrament.  The  Council  of  Trent  leaves  tin? 
point  doubtful.  Sess.  vn.  xi.  Perrone,  one  of  the  most  eminent  of  the  recent 
Catholic  theologians,  holds  to  the  necessity  of  the  "internal  "  intention.  Prm- 
lectiones  Theolog.,  ii.  118  (p.  232).  This  is  more  commonly  considered  to  be 
most  consonant  with  the  Tridentine  declaration.  Klee,  Dogmenaeschichte,  ii. 
132.  Thus  a  secret  intention  of  the  priest  may  deprive  the  recipient  of  the 
benefit  of  a  sacrament. 


468  THE    PROTESTANT    THEOLOGY. 

cross  are  obtained  and  appropriated.  In  the  converted 
substance  of  the  wafer,  the  recipient  actually  partakes  of 
the  Redeemer's  body.  The  sacrifice  of  the  Mass  is  the 
central  act  of  worship. 

Of  course,  this  conception  of  the  sacraments  presup- 
poses a  consecrated  priesthood,  a  hierarchical  order, 
which  is  authorized  to  dispense  them.  They  stand  in 
the  position  of  mediators,  from  whose  hands  the  means 
of  salvation  must  be  received  ;  by  whom,  acting  in  a 
judicial  capacity  penances,  or  the  temporal  punishments 
due  to  mortal  sin  after  repentance  and  confession,  are 
appointed  ;  and  who  have  it  in  their  power  to  pronounce 
against  contumacious  offenders  the  awful  sentence  of 
excommunication,  which  blots  their  names  out  of  the 
book  of  life.  Between  the  individual  and  Christ  stands 
a  fully  organized,  self-perpetuating  body  of  priests, 
through  whose  offices  alone  the  soul  can  come  into  the 
possession  of  the  blessings  of  salvation.  It  is  true  that 
baptism,  without  which  one  cannot  be  saved  —  unless, 
indeed,  the  intention  to  receive  it  is  prevented  from  being 
carried  out,  without  the  candidate's  fault  —  may  be  per- 
formed by  unconsecrated  hands,  in  emergencies  where 
no  priest  can  be  summoned.  But  the  other  sacraments, 
Confirmation,  the  Lord's  Supper,  the  allotment  of  Pen- 
ance and  Absolution,  Marriage,  Ordination,  Extreme 
Unction,  belong  exclusively  to  the  priest,  and  have  no 
validity  unless  performed  by  him.  Standing  thus,  not 
as  a  member  on  a  level  with  the  general  congregation  of 
believers,  but  as  an  intermediate  link  between  the  body 
of  believers  and  God,  the  priest  is  naturally  subject  to 
the  rule  of  celibacy.  He  stands  aloof  from  the  ordinary 
relations  of  this  earthly  life.1 

In  direct  opposition  to  this  theory  of  a  sacerdotal  class, 
the  Protestants  maintained  the  doctrine  of  the  universal 
priesthood  of  believers.     The  laity  stand  in  no  such  de- 

1  Neander,  Catholicismus  v.  Protestantismus,  p.  210. 


PROTESTANT  DOCTRINE  OF  THE  SACRAMENTS.    469 

pendence  on  a  priestly  order.  Every  disciple  has  the 
right  of  immediate  access  to  God  ;  none  can  debar  him 
from  a  direct  approach  to  the  Redeemer.  The  officers 
of  the  Church  are  set  apart  among  their  brethren,  for 
the  performance  of  certain  duties  ;  but  the  clergy  are 
not  a  distinct  and  superior  order,  clothed  with  mediatorial 
functions.  The  idea  of  the  direct  relation  of  the  soul  to 
Christ,  which  is  involved  in  the  doctrine  of  justification 
by  faith  alone,  and  in  that  of  the  general,  as  opposed  to 
a  particular  priesthood,  carried  with  it  an  essential  modi- 
fication of  the  previous  doctrine  of  the  sacraments.  The 
sufficiency  of  the  sacrifice  once  made,  dispensed  with 
such  a  supplement  as  was  sought  in  the  repeated  sacrifice 
of  the  Mass  ;  and  tr  an  substantiation  was  rejected  as  a 
gross  perversion  of  the  Scriptural  and  primitive  doctrine. 
The  sacraments  were  declared  to  be  but  two  in  number, 
Baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper.  The  other  five  had 
been  added  to  the  number  without  warrant  of  Scripture. 
Of  these,  extreme  unction  was  set  aside  as  an  unauthor- 
ized superstition.  Marriage  might  be  concluded  without 
the  intervention  of  a  priest.  Penances  vanished  with 
the  doctrine  of  human  merit ;  and  auricular  confession, 
instead  of  being  a  duty  owed  to  the  priest,  an  obligation 
to  recount  to  him  all  remembered  sins  of  a  heinous 
character,  was  resolved  into  the  general  privilege  which 
disciples  enjoy,  of  confessing  to  one  another  their  faults, 
for  the  purpose  of  receiving  from  brethren  rebuke, 
counsel,  and  comfort.  Moreover  the  efficacy  of  the  sac- 
raments was  made  dependent  on  the  spiritual  state  of 
the  communicant,  or  the  disposition  with  which  they 
were  received.  Everything  like  a  magical  efficiency  was 
denied  to  them  ;  without  faith,  the  sacrament  of  the 
Supper  brought  no  benefit.1     But  while  the  Protestants 

1  Yet  both  Lutherans  and  Calvinists  held  that  in  the  sacraments  the  outward 
sign  represents  the  inward  operation  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  which  gives  to  the  sac- 
rament its  efficacy.      Thus  in  the  Conf.  Belgica  (art.  xxxiii.),  it  is  said  of  the 


470  THE    PROTESTANT    THEOLOGY. 

held  that  the  validity  and  use  of  the  sacraments  are  not 
dependent  on  the  personal  character  of  the  officiating 
minister,  they  also  asserted  that  they  are  equally  inde- 
pendent of  his  secret  intention.  They  recoiled  from  the 
doctrine  that  the  priest,  by  a  contrary  intention,  may 
annul  the  effect  of  the  sacraments  ;  whereby  it  is  always 
left  in  some  degree  uncertain  whether  they  are  in  fact 
received. 

With  the  Catholic  doctrine  of  penance,  or  temporal 
punishments  following  upon  the  remission  of  mortal  sin, 
the  doctrine  of  purgatory  also  disappeared,  and  conse- 
quently that  of  the  lawfulness  or  need  of  prayers  for  the 
dead.  The  invocation  of  the  Virgin  and  of  the  saints 
was  connected  with  ideas  concerning  the  character  o.f 
Christ,  which  were  at  variance  with  the  Protestant  con- 
ception of  his  compassionate  feeling  and  mediatorial  rela- 
tion ;  and  such  practices  disappeared,  almost  of  themselves. 
It  is  only  in  recent  times  that  the  immaculate  conception 
of  the  Virgin  has  been  proclaimed  as  a  dogma  ;  but  the 
cultus  of  Mary,  in  the  Middle  Ages,  especially  under  the 
auspices  of  the  Franciscans,  had  been  carried  to  a  porten- 
tous height ;  and  this  exalted  service  offered  to  the  mother 
of  Jesus  the  Reformers  discarded.  The  worship  of  images, 
or  that  homage  to  images  which  the  Catholic  theology 
permits,  and  the  veneration  of  the  relics  of  saints,  van- 
ished with  the  worship  of  the  saints  themselves,  and  was 
renounced  likewise  as  a  species  of  idolatry,  or  as  involving 
a  temptation  to  an  idolatrous  service.  Pilgrimages  and  a 
great  variety  of  ascetic  usages  were  given  up  from  their 
perceived  inconsistency  with  the  Protestant  doctrine  of 
justification,  and  of  the  liberty  from  ceremonial  ordinances 

sacraments:  "Per  quae  ceu  media  deus  virtute  spiritus  sancti  in  nobis  opera- 
tur."  In  the  Conf.  Helv.  ii.  (xix.)  it  is  said  of  the  sacraments:  "  Signa  et 
res  significatae  inter  se  sacramentaliter  conjunguntur,  conjunguntur,  inquam,  vel 
uniuntur  per  significationem  mysticam  et  voluntatem  vel  consilium  ejus,  qui 
sacramenta  constituit."  See  also  Conf.  Angl,  art.  xxv.;  Conf.  Gall.,  art.  xxxiv.; 
Cat.  Genev.,  p.  519. 


MONASTICISM   AND   CELIBACY.  471 

which  is  a  corollary  of  that  doctrine.  It  is  a  striking 
proof  that  the  central  principle  of  Protestantism  is  logi- 
cally inconsistent  with  these  practices,  that  they  dropped 
off  from  the  system  of  worship  without  any  struggle  in 
behalf  of  them,  wherever  that  principle  was  intelligently 
received  and  professed.  Monasticism,  together  with  tho 
celibacy  of  the  clergy,  as  a  compulsory  rule,  shared  the 
same  fate  and  on  the  same  ground.  As  the  Catholic  the- 
ology made  a  distinction  between  mortal  and  venial  sins, 
presenting  thus  a  quantitative  rather  than  a  qualitative 
standard  of  conduct,  which  Protestantism  rejected,  so  that 
theology  made  a  distinction  between  two  types  of  Chris- 
tian character,  the  one  being  a  salvable  degree  of  excel- 
lence such  as  is  gained  by  complying  with  the  command- 
ments of  the  Gospel,  the  other  being  the  more  exalted 
type  of  excellence,  which  is  reached  through  compliance 
with  the  counsels  or  recommendations  of  the  Gospel.  On 
this  distinction  was  founded  the  monastic  system,  with  its 
three  vows  of  poverty,  chastity  (including  celibacy),  and 
obedience.  The  Protestants  rejected  the  distinction  as 
belonging  to  a  legal  system  at  war  with  the  spirit  of  Chris- 
tian ethics,  where  the  fundamental  characteristic  is  not  obe- 
dience to  that  which  is  exacted,  but  a  free  and  willing  and 
grateful  self-consecration  ;  where  the  question  is  not  "  how 
much  must  I,"  but  "  how  much  can  I  "  do  for  the  Saviour  ? 
For  this  reason  they  cast  away  also  the  rule  of  celibacy  for 
the  clergy,  and  for  the  additional  reasons  that  it  was  one 
of  the  artificial  barriers  which  had  been  set  up  to  give  a 
greater  sanctity  to  the  priesthood  than  of  right  belongs 
to  the  Christian  ministry  ;  that  it  puts  a  stigma  upon  the 
marriage  institution  ;  and  that  it  had  proved  a  source  of 
corruption  in  the  Church.  Works  of  supererogation  and 
the  idea  of  a  treasury  of  supererogatory  merits  of  saints 
were  cast  away,  as  human  inventions,  which  had  sprung  out 
of  an  eclipse  of  the  truth  that  the  merits  of  Christ  are  the 
sole  and  sufficient  ground  of  salvation.     With  the  abro- 


472  THE  PROTESTANT  THEOLOGY. 

gation  of  penances,  and  with  the  denial  of  purgatory,  there 
was  no  room  left  for  indulgences  or  for  absolution,  con- 
sidered as  a  judicial  act  of  the  priest.  Absolution,  where 
it  was  retained  by  the  Protestants,  was  a  declaration  of 
the  forgiveness  of  the  Gospel,  not  to  an  individual  by 
himself,  but  to  the  assembly  of  believers,  and  was  founded 
on  a  general,  not  a  detailed,  on  a  common,  not  an  auricu- 
lar or  private  confession  of  sin. 

Of  the  theological  divisions  among  the  Protestants,  the 
earliest  and  most  noteworthy  was  the  Sacramentarian  con- 
troversy between  the  Lutherans  on  the  one  hand,  and  the 
Zwinglians  first,  and  then  the  Calvinists,  on  the  other  ; 
the  controversy  that  raged  in  the  first  age  of  the  Reforma- 
tion. This  has  been  described  in  preceding  pages.  The 
Arminian  controversy,  which  is,  perhaps,  next  in  import- 
ance, related  to  the  subject  of  predestination,  and  arose 
towards  the  close  of  the  sixteenth  century.  The  Reform- 
ers had  followed  Augustine  in  the  assertion  of  uncondi- 
tional predestination  and  election,  which  they  assumed  to 
be  the  correlate  of  salvation  by  grace  alone.  By  Beza, 
the  pupil  of  Calvin,  who  succeeded  him  at  Geneva,  this 
doctrine  was  taught  in  the  extreme,  or  what  was  called 
the  supra-lapsarian  form.  Calvin,  to  say  the  least,  had 
not  uniformly  inculcated  this  phase  of  the  doctrine,  ac- 
cording to  which  the  first  sin  of  man  is  the  object  of  an 
efficient  decree ;  the  salvation  of  some  and  the  condem- 
nation of  others  being  the  supreme  end  in  reference  to 
which  all  the  rest  of  the  divine  decrees  are  subordinate. 
But  this  type  of  doctrine  spread  extensively  in  the  Re- 
formed or  Calvinistic  branch  of  the  Protestant  Church. 
The  followers  of  Melancthon  adopted  the  doctrine  of  con- 
ditional predestination,  in  the  room  of  the  Augustinian 
view,  and  the  Lutherans  at  length  practically  acquiesced 
in  the  same  opinion.  In  Holland,  therefore,  where  the 
Lutheran  teaching  was  early  introduced,  there  had  been, 
before  the  time  of  Arminius,  more  or  less  dissent  from 


THE   SYSTEM   OF   ARMINIUS.  473 

the  Calvinistic  dogma.  But  this  dissent  first  acquired 
strength  through  his  influence.  James  Arminius,  born 
at  Oudewater,  in  1560,  was  one  of  the  most  learned  and 
accomplished  theologians  of  his  age.  He  studied  at  the 
University  of  Ley  den,  but  received  his  education  princi- 
pally at  Geneva,  where  he  was  under  the  instruction  of 
Beza.  After  travelling  in  Italy,  he  returned  to  his  native 
country,  and  in  1603  became  Professor  of  Theology  at 
Leyden,  and  a  colleague  of  Gomarus,  a  strenuous  advo- 
cate of  the  supra-lapsarian  theory.  This  view  Arminius 
had  been  called  upon  to  defend  against  the  preachers  of 
Delft,  who  had  avowed  their  adhesion  to  the  milder,  or 
infra-lapsarian  form  of  the  doctrine,  according  to  which 
election  has  respect  to  men  already  fallen  into  a  state  of 
sin.  But  in  the  examination  of  the  subject,  into  which 
Arminius  was  thus  led,  he  came  to  sympathize  with  the 
opinion  which  he  was  set  to  oppose,  and  at  length  to  go 
beyond  it,  and  reject  unconditional  election  altogether. 
In  short,  he  gave  up  what  had  come  to  be  considered  the 
characteristic  dogma  of  Calvinism.  A  dispute  arose  be- 
tween him  and  Gomarus,  and  the  debate  spread  through 
Holland.  Episcopius,  the  learned  successor  of  Arminius 
at  Leyden,  and  Uytenbogaert,  who  had  been  a  fellow- 
pupil  of  the  former  at  Geneva,  became  the  leaders  of  the 
party  which  the  movement  of  Arminius  had  called  into 
being.  The  main  peculiarities  of  their  creed  were  con- 
tained in  the  Remonstrance  —  which  gave  the  name  of 
Remonstrants  to  the  party  —  that  was  addressed  to  the 
states  of  Holland  and  West  Friesland  in  1610.  This 
document  embraces  five  points,  namely,  Election  based 
on  the  foreknow] edge  of  faith,  universal  Atonement,  in 
the  room  of  Atonement  made  for  the  elect  only,  the 
resistibility  of  Grace,  in  connection  with  the  need  of  Re- 
generation by  the  Spirit,  and  the  doubtfulness  of  the  Cal- 
vinistic tenet  of  the  perseverance  of  all  believers. 

A  great  political  line  of  division  was  also  run  between 


474  THE  PROTESTANT  THEOLOGY. 

the  two  theological  parties.  The  Arminians  were  Repub- 
licans, and  in  favor  of  a  closer  union  of  Church  and  State, 
or  a  partial  control  of  the  State  over  the  Church.  The 
Calvinists  adhered  to  the  house  of  Orange,  and  were  for 
the  independence  of  the  Church  in  relation  to  the  State. 
In  the  progress  of  the  conflict,  Olden  Barneveldt  was 
beheaded,  and  Grotius,  the  illustrious  ornament  of  the 
Arminian  party,  was  banished.  The  Synod  of  Dort  was 
assembled,  in  1616,  for  the  purpose  of  giving  judgment 
upon  this  theological  controversy.  "While  this  Synod 
declined  to  give  an  express  sanction  to  the  supra-lapsarian 
views  of  Gomarus,  it  declared  its  judgment  in  opposition 
to  the  Arminians,  on  all  the  characteristic  points  of  their 
system,  and  put  forth,  by  way  of  antithesis,  what  have 
been  called  the  five  points  of  high  Calvinism :  uncondi- 
tional election  ;  limited  atonement  (designed  for  the  elect 
alone)  ;  the  complete  impotency  of  the  fallen  will ;  irre- 
sistible grace  ;  and  the  perseverance  of  believers.  The 
Arminians  introduced  into  their  theology  other  deviations 
from  the  current  system.  In  particular,  they  modified 
the  accepted  doctrine  of  Original  Sin,  excluding  native 
guilt  in  the  literal  and  proper  sense  of  the  term  ;  and 
through  the  celebrated  treatise  of  Grotius  in  answer  to 
Socinus,  and  in  the  writings  of  other  eminent  theolo- 
gians of  the  party,  they  substituted  for  the  Anselmic 
doctrine  of  the  Atonement  what  has  been  termed  the 
governmental  view.1     The  Arminian  party,  from  the  out- 

1  Grotius  meets  the  objections  of  Socinus  by  denying  that  atonement  or  satis- 
faction is  the  payment  of  a  debt.  The  ruler  is  at  liberty  to  pardon,  provided 
public  order  is  not  endangered.  The  end  of  punishment  is  the  prevention  of 
future  transgressions,  or  the  security  of  the  commonwealth.  The  death  of 
Christ,  in  its  moral  effect,  as  a  means  to  this  end,  is  equivalent  to  the  legal  pen- 
alty; since  it  equally  manifests  God's  hatred  of  sin.  Hence  it  permits  the 
ruler  to  pardon,  on  such  conditions  as  he  may  judge  it  wise  to  impose.  The 
seeds  of  the  Grotian  doctrine  are  in  the  Scotist  theology,  which  affirmed  that  the 
atonement  is  not  intrinsically  the  equivalent  of  the  penalty,  but  takes  its  place 
by  the  divine  acceptance  or  consent  (acceptilatio);  though  Grotius,  on  verbal  and 
technical  grounds,  repudiates  this  term.  Defensio  Faciei  Cathol.  de  Satisfactions 
Christi  adv.  F.  Socinum  (1617).     Grotii  Oj)era,  iv.  297. 


THE   ANABAPTISTS.  475 

set,  cultivated  Biblical  studies  with  an  earnest,  scholarly 
spirit,  and  made  important  contributions  in  this  branch  of 
theological  science.  They  were  marked,  partly  as  a  natu- 
ral consequence  of  the  position  of  their  party  and  of  the 
persecution  to  which  they  were  subject,  by  a  liberal  and 
tolerant  disposition.  They  were  in  favor  of  reducing  the 
doctrinal  tests  at  the  foundation  of  Christian  union,  to 
the  briefest  possible  compass.  Indeed,  a  comparative  in- 
difference in  respect  to  creeds,  or  a  low  estimate  of  their 
value,  was  one  of  their  characteristic  traits.  The  Ar- 
minian  theology,  besides  the  progress  which  it  made  in 
the  country  where  it  had  its  origin,  by  degrees  supplanted 
Calvinism,  for  the  most  part,  in  the  English  Episcopal 
Church.  It  was  adopted  substantially  by  John  Wesley, 
the  principal  founder  of  Methodism,  and  in  this  way  won 
a  numerous  and  powerful  body  of  adherents. 

In  the  ferment  of  thought  and  discussion  which  was 
produced  by  the  Protestant  movement,  a  new  impetus,  as 
well  as  liberty,  was  given  to  speculation.  Slumbering 
tendencies  of  opinion  were  awakened  to  fresh  life,  and 
new  sects  sprang  up,  which  were  equally  dissatisfied  with 
the  old  Church  and  with  the  position  taken  by  the  Re- 
formers. 

Among  the  advocates  of  more  radical  changes  who 
considered  that  the  Protestant  leaders  had  stopped  half- 
way in  their  work,  is  that  numerous  and  widely  scattered 
class,  which  comprehended  under  itself  many  subordinate 
divisions,  but  which  was  known  by  the  name  of  Anabap- 
tists.1 They  received  this  title  from  their  rejection,  in 
common,  of  the  baptism  of  infants,  and  from  their  insist- 
ing that  those  who  joined  them  should  be  baptized  anew. 
One  prevailing  feature  of  their  system  was  a  belief  in 
immediate  or  prophetic  inspiration,  which,  if  it  did  not 
supersede  the  written  Word,  assimilated  them  to  its  au- 

1  Erbkam,  Geschichte  d.  prut.  Sekten  im.  Zeitalt.  d.  Ref.  (1848).  Dorner,  Hist. 
ofProt.  Theology,  i.  125. 


476  THE   PROTESTANT   THEOLOGY. 

thors.  This  was  the  position  of  the  prophets  who  stirred 
up  the  commotion  at  Wittenberg,  while  Luther  was  at  the 
Wartburg,  and  who  gained  over  Carlstadt  to  their  cause. 
One  consequence  of  this  form  of  enthusiasm  was  a  con- 
tempt for  human  learning  and  for  study.  The  immediate 
teaching  of  the  Spirit  renders  the  laborious  exertions  of 
the  intellect  superfluous.  Another  of  their  tenets  was  a 
belief  in  the  visible  kingdom  of  Christ,  which  was  to  be 
erected  on  the  ruins  of  Church  and  State.  In  some  cases 
they  held  that  temporal  rule  belongs  to  the  saints  alone, 
and  carried  out  their  fanatical  theory  by  seizing  on  the 
city  of  Minister  and  dispossessing  the  magistrates.  Some- 
times their  conduct  was  marked  by  an  ascetic  morality, 
and  sometimes  by  licentious  maxims  and  practices  ;  oppo- 
site phenomena  which  freqently  coexist  in  sects  of  this 
nature.  They  appear  to  have  generally  held  a  peculiar 
notion  about  the  Incarnation  ;  that  the  body  of  Christ  is 
not  formed  from  that  of  the  Virgin,  is  different  from  the 
flesh  and  blood  of  other  men,  and  was  deified  at  the 
Ascension.  Such  a  doctrine  was  held  by  Jean  Boucher, 
who  was  put  to  death  in  England,  after  being  examined 
by  Cranmer.  Such  was  the  opinion  also  of  the  mystic, 
Caspar  Schwenkfeld,  a  German  nobleman  of  pious  and 
zealous  character,  a  leader  of  one  of  the  most  worthy  of 
the  Anabaptist  sects,  who  died  not  far  from  1561.  It 
was  in  Holland  that  the  Anabaptists  were  most  numerous. 
Many  of  them  were  guilty  of  extravagances  which  afforded 
a  fair  pretext,  though  no  just  apology,  for  treating  them 
with  extreme  severity.  After  the  disturbances  connected 
with  the  seizure  of  Minister,  the  more  sober  class  of  Ana- 
baptists found  a  leader  in  the  person  of  Menno,  who  trav- 
elled from  place  to  place,  and  organized  them  into 
churches.  They  were  a  simple  and  honest  people,  aiming 
to  shape  their  lives  according  to  the  precepts  of  the  Bible, 
discarding  infant  baptism,  the  oath,  and  the  use  of  arms  ; 
admitting  that  civil  magistrates  are  necessary  in  the  pres- 


THE    ANTITRINITARTANS.  477 

ent  condition  of  the  world,  but  refusing  for  themselves 
to  hold  civil  office.  Between  the  followers  of  Miinzer, 
who  entered  into  the  rebellion  called  the  Peasants'  war, 
in  whom  a  religious  enthusiasm  which  had  been  kindled 
partly  by  the  Lutheran  movement,  was  mingled  with  the 
desire  to  deliver  themselves  from  the  oppression  of  the 
German  princes  —  between  these  enthusiasts  and  the 
humble  and  pious  Mennonites  of  the  Netherlands,  who 
abjured  the  use  of  force  altogether,  there  was  a  very  wide 
difference  ;  and  yet  both  were  branches  from  a  common 
stock.  Both  were  fruits  of  a  widely  diffused  religious 
excitement,  which,  in  its  diverse  phases,  retained  certain 
common  characteristics. 

Very  different  in  many  of  their  traits,  and  yet  cu- 
riously connected  with  the  Anabaptists,  were  the  Anti- 
trinitarians  of  the  age  of  the  Reformation.1  It  was  in 
Italy,  among  the  cultured  class,  in  men  of  inquisitive 
and  cultivated  minds,  that  the  Antitrinitarians  appeared. 
The  peculiar  tone  of  the  belles-lettres  culture  that  fol- 
lowed upon  the  revival  of  learning  was  often  congenial 
with  these  new  opinions.  There  was  a  disposition  to 
examine  the  foundations  of  religion,  to  call  in  question 
the  traditional  doctrines  of  the  Church,  and  to  sift  the 
entire  creed  by  the  application  of  reason  to  its  contents. 
The  writings  of  Servetus  doubtless  had  much  influence 
in  diffusing  antitrinitarian  opinions ;  but  most  of  the 
conspicuous  Unitarians  who  first  appear,  are  of  Italian 
birth  ;  generally  exiles  from  their  country  on  account  of 
their  belief.  After  the  publication  of  the  antitrinitarian 
work  of  Servetus,  in  1531,  it  is  said  that  not  less  than 
forty  educated  men  in  Vicenza  and  the  neighborhood 
were  united  in  a  private  association,  all  of  whom  held 
Unitarian  opinions.  The  Unitarian  doctrine  was  found 
in  the  churches   of   Italian  refugees  at  Geneva  and  at 

1  F.  Trechsel,  Die  prot.  Antitrinitarier  vor  F.  Svcin.  (1839  and  1844).     Fock, 
Der  Socinianismus  (1847). 


478  THE  PROTESTANT  THEOLOGY. 

Zurich.  Blandrata,  a  learned  physician  and  afterwards 
an  influential  propagator  of  Unitarianism  in  Poland 
and  elsewhere,  was  their  leading  adherent  at  the  former 
place ;  while  at  Zurich  the  eminent  preacher,  Bernar- 
dino Ochino,  embraced  the  same  theology.  Gentili  was 
put  to  death  in  Berne  in  1566,  for  his  opinions.  Alciati, 
an  associate  of  Blandrata  at  Geneva,  found  an  asylum 
in  Poland.  But  the  most  eminent  of  this  class  of  men, 
and  the  one  who  gave  a  name  to  the  adherents  of  Uni- 
tarianism, was  Faustus  Socinus.  Born  of  a  noble  family 
at  Sienna,  in  1539,  and  endued  with  uncommon  talents, 
he  devoted  himself  first  to  the  study  of  law.  He  had 
been  left  an  orphan,  and  his  education  had  been  negli- 
gently conducted.  He  soon  manifested  an  interest  in 
theology,  and  was  guided  by  the  letters  and  conversa- 
tions of  his  uncle,  Laelius  Socinus,  a  man  of  an  inquir- 
ing mind,  versed  in  classical  learning,  who  sought  the 
society  of  the  Reformers  in  various  countries,  and  cau- 
tiously betrayed  his  predilection  for  Unitarian  tenets. 
The  persecution  to  which  his  family  were  exposed  com- 
pelled Faustus  to  leave  Italy.  After  spending  three 
years  in  Lyons  he  went  to  Zurich  to  take  possession  of 
the  manuscripts  of  his  deceased  uncle,  which,  though  con- 
sisting of  fragmentary  papers,  furnished  him  with  hints 
and  observations  of  much  value.  For  twelve  years  he 
resided  at  the  court  of  Francis  de  Medici  at  Florence, 
and  enjoyed  high  honors  and  favors,  but  was  drawn 
away  from  the  study  of  theology  to  which  he  was 
strongly  inclined.  Leaving  Florence,  he  spent  four  years 
in  Basel,  where  he  labored  on  his  theological  system,  and 
diffused  his  opinions  by  conversation  and  by  his  writ- 
ings. At  length  he  resorted  to  Poland  (1579),  where  the 
remainder  of  his  life  was  spent.  At  first  he  was  not 
received  by  the  Unitarians  into  their  church,  because  he 
refused  to  be  rebaptized.  His  own  view  was  that  Chris- 
tian baptism  was  intended  only  for  converts  from  heath- 


SOCINUS   AND   HIS   SYSTEM.  479 

enism.  But  the  Polish  Unitarians,  like  their  brethren 
in  Italy  and  like  Servetus,  were  opposed  to  the  practice 
of  infant  baptism.  Socinus  finally  succeeded  in  impress- 
ing his  views  upon  the  Unitarians  about  him,  and  took 
the  post,  for  which  his  talents  fitted  him,  of  an  acknowl- 
edged leader.  His  intellectual  power  and  his  polished 
manners  commended  him  to  the  favor  of  the  Polish 
nobles  ;  and  his  influence  was  augmented  by  his  marriage 
with  a  daughter  of  one  of  them.  By  Socinus  and  by 
the  scholars  who  were  trained  in  the  Polish  schools,  of 
whom  Crell  is  the  most  distinguished,  the  Unitarian 
system  of  doctrine  was  ably  stated  and  defended. 
Laslius  Socinus,  from  whom  Faustus  derived  his  funda- 
mental principles,  had  too  much  general  reverence  for 
religion  to  be  satisfied  with  the  Deism  and  Atheism 
which  were  so  common  among  cultivated  Italians  about 
him.  But  he  first  studied  the  Bible  to  find  principles 
which  he  could  place  at  the  foundation  of  a  system  of 
jurisprudence.  There  was  no  definite  centre  from  which 
his  religious  life  emanated  ;  no  crisis  of  religious  expe- 
rience. He  resorted  to  the  Scriptures  as  a  text-book  of 
revealed  doctrine,  and  brought  to  their  interpretation  the 
rationalistic  temper  which  was  the  natural  result  of  his 
studies  and  associations.  Hence  his  supernaturalism 
stood  in  no  vital  connection  with  his  inward  life,  and 
was  therefore  something,  as  it  were,  apart,  having  no 
living  roots  within  the  soul.1     It  seems  at  first  remark- 

1  Neander,  Dogmengeschichte,  ii.  220  seq.  It  is  interesting  to  observe  how 
the  type  of  theology,  the  interpretation  of  the  Gospel,  varies  according  as  men 
have  or  have  not  a  definite  centre  of  religious  life,  a  crisis  or  turning-point; 
such,  for  example,  as  Luther  had.  This  diversity  may  be  seen  where  there  is 
no  real  discrepancy  in  doctrine;  even  in  the  Apostolic  age,  between  Paul  and 
the  disciples  who  were  subject  to  a  gradual  training.  It  appears,  in  some  de- 
gree, in  the  contrast  between  Zwingle  and  the  other  great  Reformers,  Luther  and 
Calvin.  It  is  still  more  marked  in  its  consequences  in  Erasmus  and  in  many  of 
the  learned  Arminians  of  Holland,  when  compared  with  their  opponents.  In 
the  Socinians,  this  difference  in  theology,  having  its  source  in  the  peculiarities 
of  religious  experience,  reached  its  climax. 


480  THE  PROTESTANT  THEOLOGY. 

able,  and  yet  it  is  characteristic  of  the  Socinian  tone  of 
thought,  that  supernaturalism  was  pushed  to  an  ex- 
treme ;  that  the  arguments  of  natural  religion,  even  for 
the  being  of  God,  were  held  in  light  esteem,  and  Revela- 
tion was  declared  to  be  the  source  of  our  knowledge, 
even  in  the  case  of  the  first  truths  of  religion.  Revela- 
tion, it  was  held,  may  contain  things  above  reason,  but 
nothing  contrary  to  reason ;  and  this  canon  was  so  ap- 
plied in  the  interpretation  of  the  Bible,  that  various 
doctrines,  especially  the  Trinity,  were  excluded  on  the 
ground  of  their  alleged  inconsistency  with  intuitive 
knowledge.  The  prime  characteristic  of  the  Socinian 
theology  was  the  denial  of  the  divinity  and  satisfaction 
of  Christ.  He  -is  a  teacher  and  legislator,  the  appointed 
head  of  a  spiritual  kingdom  ;  but  while  his  prophetic  and 
kingly  offices  are  held,  his  priestly  or  expiatory  function 
is  denied,  or  it  is  limited  to  the  work  of  intercessory  sup- 
plication. The  church  doctrine  of  original  sin  is  mate- 
rially modified.  The  image  of  God  in  man  is  said  to  be 
identical  with  his  dominion  over  the  lower  orders  of 
creation,  and  the  effect  of  the  first  sin  is  made  to  be  the 
propagation  of  physical  mortality.  The  doctrine  of  the 
annihilation  of  the  wicked  is  substituted  for  that  of 
eternal  punishment.  The  separation  of  ethics  from  re- 
ligion, the  disjunction  of  ethical  character  from  Chris- 
tian faith,  was  a  characteristic  tendency  of  the  Socinian 
type  of  thinking,  and  a  corollary  of  the  extreme,  but 
one-sided  supernaturalism,  to  which  we  have  adverted. 
The  logical  and  exegetical  ability  of  the  Socinian  leaders 
gave  a  wide  currency  to  their  doctrine.  When  persecu- 
tion arose  against  the  Unitarians  of  Poland,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  Catholic  Reaction  and  the  acts  of  the 
Jesuits,  many  fled  into  Holland,  and  came  into  friendly 
relations  with  the  Arminians.  Some  also  joined  the 
churches  of  the  Mennonites.  It  was  the  ingenious  and 
formidable  attack  of  Faustus  Socinus  upon  the  Anselmic 


PROJECTS  OF  REUNION.  481 

theory  of  the  Atonement,  which  gave  rise  to  the  treatise 
of  Grotius,  and  indirectly  occasioned  a  modification  of 
the  orthodox  doctrine,  which  has  found  a  wide  accept- 
ance. 

The  difference  between  the  Lutheran  and  Calvinistic 
creeds  was  not  so  great  as  to  preclude  efforts  to  unite  the 
two  parties.1  The  chief  hindrance  to  their  success  was 
the  intolerant  prejudice  of  rigid  Lutherans,  especially 
after  their  triumph  over  the  Philippists,  the  adherents  of 
the  milder  theology  of  Melancthon.  The  abandonment 
of  Lutheranism  by  several  of  the  German  states,  among 
which  was  the  Palatinate,  and  the  oppression  to  which 
Lutheran  preachers  were  sometimes  subject,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  adoption  of  Calvinism  by  their  rulers, 
embittered  the  opposition  to  a  union.  Earnest  and  long- 
continued  efforts  in  this  direction  were  made,  from  the 
early  part  of  the  seventeenth  century,  by  the  theologians 
of  Helmstadt,  of  whom  Calixtus  was  the  most  eminent.2 
The  Huguenot  Synods  of  France  were  distinguished  for 
their  liberal  and  friendly  course  in  reference  to  nego- 
tiations with  the  Lutherans. 

Projects  for  the  reunion  of  the  entire  body  of  Protes- 
tants with  the  Roman  Catholics  met  with  no  better  suc- 
cess.3    On  various  occasions,  as  at  Augsburg,  in  1530, 

i  The  Form  of  Concord  (1580,  Hase,  p.  570)  sets  forth  the  Lutheran 
theology,  in  opposition  to  the  system  of  Melancthon,  and  in  contrast  with  Cal- 
vinism. It  denies  Synergism  and  all  power  in  man  to  cooperate  in  his  conver- 
sion :  but  it  also  denies  irresistible  grace,  attributes  the  rejection  of  Christ  to 
the  resistance  of  man  to  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  affirms  the  universality  of  the 
offers  of  the  Gospel.  Everything  like  Reprobation  is  excluded.  This  logically 
amounts  to  conditional  predestination,  which  was  really  the  Lutheran  doctrine 
in  the  17th  century.  This  was  the  first  point  of  difference  with  the  Calvinists. 
The  other  points  were  the  Lutheran  Consubstantiation,  with  which  were  con- 
nected the  communication  of  divine  attributes  to  the  human  nature  of  Jesus, 
and  the  ubiquity  of  his  body;  together  with  the  use  of  pictures  and  other  minor 
peculiarities  of  the  ritual. 

'2  For  an  account  of  these  successive  efforts,  see  Hering,  Gsch.  d.  kirM. 
Unionsversuche  seit  d.  Ref.  (2  vols.),  1836.  Niedner,  pp.  787,  819  seq.  Giese- 
ler,  iv.  iii.  c.  i.  i. 

8  Gieseler,  iv.  i.  2,  iii.  §§  51,  52. 
31 


482  THE  PROTESTANT  THEOLOGY. 

on  the  occasion  of  the  Diet,  in  the  Conference  at  Ratis- 
bon,  and  in  the  Augsburg  Interim,  the  Catholics  had 
evinced  a  disposition  to  make  concessions.  The  Emperor, 
Ferdinand  I.,  recommended  conciliatory  measures  to  the 
Council  of  Trent  in  1562  ;  and,  failing  in  his  purpose,  he 
encouraged  the  theologians  near  him,  in  particular  George 
Cassander,  by  their  writings  and  personal  intercourse 
with  leading  Protestants,  in  different  countries,  to  labor 
for  the  reconciliation  of  the  two  contending  parties.  The 
position  of  Erasmus,  that  the  creed  should  be  confined  to 
fundamental  articles,  and  that  no  agreement  should  be 
required  on  matters  of  less  moment,  was  substantially 
taken  by  most  of  the  advocates  of  reunion.  Cassander 
proposed  to  go  back  to  the  Scriptures,  and  to  the  Church 
of  the  first  five  centuries.  Calixtus  adopted  the  same 
principle.  Irenical  movements  of  this  character  are 
specially  interesting  from  the  part  that  was  taken  in 
them,  by  two  of  the  ablest  men  in  the  Protestant  body, 
Grotius  and  Leibnitz.  The  latitudinarian  tendency  of 
Erasmus,  and  the  conciliatory  spirit  and  opinions  of 
Melancthon  once  more  found  strong  representatives. 
The  persecution  which  Grotius  suffered  at  the  hands 
of  his  Protestant  brethren,  the  Calvinists  of  Holland  ; 
his  observation  of  the  rigid  attachment  of  the  Protestant 
sects  to  minor  peculiarities  of  doctrine,  and  their  bitter 
theological  strife  among  themselves  ;  his  sorrow  at  the 
distracted  condition  of  Europe  in  the  early  part  of  the 
seventeenth  century,  and  at  the  calamities  resulting  from 
the  wars  of  religion,  inclined  him  to  set  a  high  value  upon 
the  restoration  of  ecclesiastical  unity.  His  intercourse 
with  moderate  and  enlightened  Catholics  in  France  con- 
firmed this  disposition.  The  differences  among  Chris- 
tians appeared  to  him  small  in  comparison  with  the 
points  on  which  they  were  united.  The  tendencies  of 
thought  peculiar  to  him  as  a  statesman,  a  scholar,  and  a 
theologian,  conspired  to  make  him  an  advocate  of  com- 


GROTIUS.  483 

promise  and  union  among  ecclesiastical  parties.  It  is  not 
surprising  that  now  he  was  charged  with  Socinianism, 
and  now  accused  of  being  a  Roman  Catholic.  He  em- 
ployed his  vast  erudition  in  the  endeavor  to  soften  Protes- 
tant antipathies  to  the  Catholic  Church  and  its  doctrines. 
He  wrote  a  treatise  to  prove  that  the  Pope  was  called 
Antichrist  through  a  misinterpretation  of  the  Apoca- 
lypse.1 In  this  and  in  other  publications,  he  assumed 
the  position  of  an  apologist  for  the  Catholic  theology.2 
In  his  idealized  interpretation,  he  finds  it  possible  even  to 
accept  transubstantiation  ;  he  does  not  consider  the  use 
of  images  in  worship  absolutely  unlawful,  though  he 
regrets  the  abuses  connected  with  it ; 3  he  thinks  that  the 
invocation  of  saints  and  prayers  for  the  dead  are  not 
inadmissible ;  and  finds  great  advantages  in  episcopal 
government,  and  in  the  primacy  of  the  Pope.  Even  the 
interference  of  the  Popes  with  the  election  of  Emperors, 
has  a  ground  in  the  fact  that  the  Popes  may  be  considered 
the  representatives  of  the  Roman  people.  Grotius  gives 
a  place  to  tradition  in  the  exegesis  of  Scripture.  His 
real  position  is,  that  the  propositions  on  which  all  Chris- 
tians can  unite,  are  to  be  ascertained  by  a  universal 
council,  composed  of  all  parties,  and  that  the  conclusions 

1  Grotii  Opera  (Basel,  1732),  iv.  457  seq. 

2  Votum  pro  Pace  eccl.  contra  examen  A.  Riveti,  Ibid.,  p.  653,  Via  ad  Pacem 
eccl,  Ibid.,  p.  535,  etc. 

3  He  denies  the  universal  validity  of  the  Decalogue  under  the  new  dispensa- 
tion. He  appeals  to  the  commandment  respecting  the  Sabbath,  which  Luther, 
Calvin,  Melancthon,  Zwingle,  and  the  other  Reformers,  united  in  denying  to  be 
so  far  obligatory  that  the  observance  of  one  day  in  seven  is,  on  the  ground  of 
it,  required  of  Christians.  Calvin,  Institutes,  ii.  8,  29,  34.  Luther,  Catechis- 
mus  major,  in  Hase,  Libri  Symbolici,  p.  424.  Melancthon,  Loci  G mmunes. 
(Erlangen,  1828),  pp.  123,  124.  Zwingle  thinks  it  better  to  mow.  cut,  hew,  or 
to  do  other  necessary  work  which  the  season  demands,  after  divine  worship, 
than  to  be  idle;  "for  the  believer  is  above  the  Sabbath."  Werke,  i.  317.  Such 
work  is  recommended  in  the  acts  of  the  Synod  of  Homberg,  in  Hesse,  on  the 
same  grounds.  Hassenkamp,  Leben  F.  Lamberts,  p.  42.  The  Puritans  asserted 
the  perpetual  validity  of  the  fourth  commandment,  only  that  the  day  is  changed 
by  divine  authority.  On  the  history  of  the  observance  of  Sunday,  see  Hesse, 
Bampton  Lectures  (1860).     Hallam,  Const.  Hist.,  ch.  vii. 


484  THE  PROTESTANT  THEOLOGY. 

of  such  a  council  are  trustworthy.  The  canon  of  Vincent 
of  Lerins —  that  what  is  accepted  always,  everywhere, 
and  by  all,  is  Catholic  truth  —  is  laid  hold  of  by  Grotius 
to  serve  as  a  basis  for  his  scheme  of  comprehension  and 
latitudinarian  orthodoxy.1 

In  the  latter  part  of  the  seventeenth  century,  Spinola, 
another  theologian  from  the  Court  of  Vienna,  who  had 
been  a  Franciscan  General  in  Spain,  signalized  himself 
by  a  pacific  undertaking  similar  to  that  of  Cassander. 
In  the  course  of  his  labors  at  the  Hanoverian  court,  in 
behalf  of  syncretism,  as  the  projected  union  of  the  diverse 
religious  bodies  was  termed,  he  had  much  intercourse 
with  the  Lutheran  theologian,  Molanus  ;  and  a  correspond- 
ence arose  between  Molanus,  and,  afterwards,  Leibnitz,  on 
the  one  side,  and  Bossuet  on  the  other.2  Leibnitz  con- 
ducted a  long  correspondence  also,  much  of  which  relates 
to  the  same  subject,  with  the  Landgrave  Ernest,  of  Hesse- 
Rheinfels,  who  had  gone  over  to  the  Catholic  Church,  in 
1652.3  The  position  taken  by  Leibnitz  closely  resembles 
that  of  Grotius.  Each  brought  vast  stores  of  learning, 
and  a  marvelous  outlay  of  philosophical  acuteness  to  the 
task  of  harmonizing  conflicting  dogmas.  Leibnitz  found 
the  dogma  of  transubstantiation  harder  to  deal  with  than 
any  other  article  of  the  opposing  creed ;  but  in  the 
alembic  of  his  subtle  criticism,  discordant  opinions  were 
made  to  assume  a  likeness  to  one  another.  He  lays  great 
stress  on  the  foundations  of  religion,  and  declares  that  the 
question  whether  the  love  of  God  is  necessary  for  salva- 
tion, is  incomparably  more  important  than  the  question 
whether  the  substance  of  the  bread  remains  in  the  Eucha- 
rist, or  the  question  whether  souls  must  be  purified  before 

1  That  Grotius  died,  as  he  had  lived,  in  the  Protestant  Church,  is  proved,  if 
proof  were  necessary,  by  the  narrative  of  the  Lutheran  clergyman  who  attended 
him  in  his  last  hours.  See  Bayle's  Dictionary,  art.  "Grotius;"  and  Luden, 
Hugo  Grotius  nach  seinen  Schicksalen  it.  Schrifien  (Berlin,  1806),  p.  338  seq. 

2  Von  Rommel,  Leibnitz  u.  Landgraf  Ernst  von  Hessen-Rhtinfels.  Ein 
ungedruckter  Brief 'icechsel,  etc.     2  vols.  (Frankfort,  1847). 

8  On  the  part  taken  by  Leibnitz,  see  Hering,  ii.  276  seq. 


LEIBNITZ   AND   BOSSUET.  485 

being  admitted  to  the  vision  of  God.  The  questions  in 
dispute  between  Rome  and  Augsburg  he  affirms  to  be  of 
less  consequence  than  the  points  in  debate  between  the 
Jansenists  and  their  opponents,  within  the  pale  of  the 
Catholic  Church.1  He  went  so  far  as  to  admit  the  right- 
ful primacy  of  the  Bishop  of  Rome,  and  he  professed  him- 
self to  stand  in  an  inward  connection,  though  not  in 
external  union,  with  the  Roman  Church.2  But  in  reply- 
to  pressing  invitations  to  conform  outwardly  to  this 
Church,  he  declined,  on  the  ground  that  within  its  fold 
he  could  not  hold  in  peace  his  philosophical  opinions, 
with  which,  in  reality,  the  Church  had  no  right  to 
meddle  ;  he  denied  that  he  was  a  schismatic,  therefore, 
by  his  own  fault,  and  maintained  the  same  ground  in 
respect  to  Luther  and  the  Protestants  generally.3  The 
Church  universal,  according  to  Leibnitz,  ever  holds  and 
is  authorized  to  teach  the  essentials  of  religion  ;  but  it  is 
not  authorized  to  go  beyond  this  limit.  In  case  it  does 
so,  and  thus  invades  the  rights  of  conscience,  an  in- 
dividual, or  a  body  of  individuals,  are  not  injured  by 
excommunication  ;  and,  when  they  find  themselves,  with- 
out their  fault,  in  this  position,  their  ministry  and  their 
administration  of  the  sacraments  become  valid  and  accept- 
able to  God.  His  remedy  for  the  divisions  of  Christen- 
dom, was  a  general  council,  in  which  all  parties  should 
appear,  and  by  which  their  common  faith  should  be  de- 
fined ;  everything  else  being  left  to  the  free  judgment  of 
individuals,  and  of  national  churches.  The  point  on  which 
Leibnitz  and  Bossuet  could  not  unite,  was  the  authority 
of  the  Council  of  Trent.  Bossuet  asserted  that  the  Cath- 
olic Church  could  make  explanations,  but  no  retractions  ; 
and  that  the  creed  of  Trent  could  not  be  altered.4  Leib- 
nitz did  not  allow  that  the  Tridentine  Council  is  an  oecu- 


1  Von  Rommel,  ii.  367.  2  ibid.,  p.  19.  8  ibid.,  ii.  3G5. 

4  It  is  interesting  to  notice  that  Dr.  Pusey's  recent  argument  for  union,  An 
Eirenicon,  etc.  (I860'),  was  met  by  Archbishop  Manning  with  the  same  demand 


486  THE  PROTESTANT   THEOLOGY. 

menical  body  ;  and  he  objected  to  some  of  its  determina- 
tions :  for  example,  to  those  relating  to  marriage.1  The 
outbreaking  of  the  Jansenist  persecution,  and  the  tyrann}' 
and  persecuting  policy  of  Louis  XIV.,  dashed  in  pieces 
whatever  hopes  of  union  sanguine  persons  may  have  been 
led  to  entertain,  in  consequence  of  these  conferences 
between  Protestant  and  Catholic  leaders. 

for  the  acknowledgment  of  the  Tridentine  Council.  But  the  representations 
of  Roman  Catholic  theology  by  men  like  Bossuet  and  Mohler  must  be  read  with 
the  recollection  that  there  is  a  stricter  orthodoxy  than  is  found  in  them. 

1  Leibnitz  wrote  "a  theological  system  "  about  the  year  1684,  which  purports 
to  be  from  the  hand  of  a  Catholic.  His  design  was  to  exhibit  that  moderate 
type  of  Catholicism  which  must  be  offered  on  the  Catholic  side  as  a  basis  of 
negotiations  for  reunion.  In  regard  to  his  own  position  he  says,  in  a  letter  to 
T.  Burnet,  in  1705:  "  On  a  eu  la  meme  opinion  de  moi  [as  of  Grotius],  lorsque 
j'ai  exphque  en  bonne  part  certaines  opinions  des  docteurs  de  l'Eglise  Romaine 
contre  les  accusations  outrees  de  nos  gens.  Mais  quand  on  a  voulu  passer  plus 
avant  et  me  faire  accroire,  que  je  devais  done  me  ranger  chez  eux,  je  leur  ai 
bien  montre"  que  j'en  £tais  fort  eloigneV'  See  Niedner,  Kirchengsch.,  p.  818. 
On  the  Eucharist,  Leibnitz  writes:  "Quant  a  moi  (puisque  vous  en  demandez 
mon  sentiment,  Monsieur),  je  me  tiens  a  la  Confession  d'Augsbourg,  qui  met  une 
presence  r^elle  du  corps  de  Jesus  Christ,  et  reconnoit  quelque  chose  de  myste- 
rieux  dans  ce  Sacrament."  Letter  to  M.  Pelisson  (without  date).  Leibnitzii 
Opei-a,  ed.  Dutens,  i.  718. 


CHAPTER    XIV. 

THE    CONSTITUTION     OF    THE     PROTESTANT     CHURCHES 
AND   THEIR   RELATION   TO   THE   CIVIL  AUTHORITY.1 

In  Scotland  and  Geneva  the  Reformation  was  estab- 
lished by  public  authority,  as  the  result  of  a  political  rev- 
olution ;  in  most  other  places,  also,  it  was  introduced  by 
the  free  act  of  princes  or  municipalities,  who  acted  as 
the  organs  of  the  popular  will.  In  France,  and  wherever 
the  government  was  not  carried  into  the  new  movement, 
it  was  organized  independently  of  the  civil  authority.  In 
some  countries  —  in  England,  for  example  —  civil  rulers 
took  a  more  active  and  controlling  part  than  elsewhere  in 
shaping,  as  in  bringing  in,  the  new  order  of  things.  More 
of  the  previous  ecclesiastical  system  was  retained  in  some 
of  the  regions  where  Protestantism  prevailed  than  in 
others.  In  short,  the  circumstances  under  which  the  revo- 
lution was  effected,  as  well  as  the  varied  character  of  the 
communities  in  which  it  took  place,  had  an  important 
effect  on  the  form  of  the  new  institutions. 

1  Upon  the  topics  of  the  Lecture,  the  principal  Catholic  manual  is  Walter, 
Kirchenrecht  (13th  ed. ,  1861) ;  the  principal  Protestant  work  of  a  like  character  is 
Richter,  Lehrbuch  d.  hath  u.  prot.  Kirchenreehts,  Leipzig,  1866.  See  also 
G.  J.  Planck,  Gsch.  d.  Enstehung  u.  Ausbildung  d.  christl.  kirchl.  Gesellschafts- 
verfassung,  1803  seq.,  5  vols.;  Richter,  Gsch.  d.  evang.  Kirchenverfassung  in 
Deutschl,  1851;  Lechler,  Gsch.d.  Presbyterial-Verfassuny,\%h±.  There  are  val- 
uable articles  by  .Tacobson  in  Herzog's  Real-Enc.  d.  Theol.,  viz.,  Consis/orinl- 
verfassung  (vol.  iii.),  Collegialsystem  (vol.  ii.),  Episkopalsystem  (vol.  iv.), 
Territoriality  stem  (vol.  xv.).  See  also  Rotteck  u.  Welcker,  Staats  Ltxikon,  art. 
Kirche,  Kirchenverfassung.  A  concise  discussion  of  the  possible  and  actual 
relations  of  Church  and  State  is  given  by  Bluntschli,  Staatsrecht,  ii.  250.  See 
also  Von  Mohl,  Staatsrecht,  Volkerrecht  u.  Politik,  ii.  171,  and  Laurent,  L'Eglise 
et  L'Etat  (1860). 


488        CONSTITUTION   OF   THE  PROTESTANT   CHURCHES. 

The  Reformers  generally  agreed  in  discarding  the  hie- 
rarchical idea,  and  in  holding  that  the  body  of  the  Church 
is  the  original  repository  of  ecclesiastical  authority.  It 
was  government  by  the  laity,  in  distinction  from  govern- 
ment by  a  priestly  class.  This  fundamental  principle 
was  adhered  to,  and  nowhere  more  than  in  England,  where 
the  fabric  of  the  old  polity  was  least  altered.  The  Re- 
formers generally  held,  also,  that  Church  and  State  are 
so  far  distinct  that  neither  is  subject  to  the  absolute  con- 
trol of  the  other,  or  can  merge  in  the  other  its  own  exis- 
tence. They  opposed,  on  the  one  hand,  enthusiasts  and 
fanatics,  who  clamored  for  the  subordination  or  surrender 
of  secular  rule  to  "  the  saints,"  and  thus  for  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  theocracy  ;  they  opposed,  on  the  other  hand, 
an  absorption  of  ecclesiastical  power  in  the  State,  such  as 
marked  the  Roman  Empire  under  heathenism,  aud  the 
Greek  Empire  in  Christian  ages. 

The  Lutheran  Reformers  professed  principles  upon  the 
government  of  the  Church  and  upon  its  relation  to  the 
civil  authority,  which  they  considered  it  impracticable  to 
realize.  Luther  declared  that  all  power  resides  in  the 
congregation,  or  body  of  believers  —  the  Church  collect- 
ive. In  their  hands  are  the  keys,  or  the  right  to  exercise 
Church  discipline,  the  sacraments,  and  all  the  powers  of 
government.  The  clergy  are  commissioned  by  the  people 
to  perform  offices  which  belong  to  all  in  common,  but 
which  all  cannot  discharge.  They  are  therefore  committed 
by  the  voice  of  the  community  to  such  as  are  qualified  to 
fulfill  them.  The  sacrament  of  ordination  is  nothing  but 
the  rite  whereby  persons  are  put  into  the  ministry  ;  but 
they  are  not  constituted  an  order  of  priests.  The  churches 
have  the  power  to  elect  and  ordain  their  ministers,  for  it 
is  the  churches  to  whom  the  command  is  addressed  to 
preach  the  Gospel.  The  Church  is  endued  with  the  right 
to  govern  itself ;  the  right  of  excommunication  belongs 


ECCLESIASTICAL   FUNCTION    OF    CIVIL   RULERS.  489 

not  to  a  body  of  ecclesiastics,  but  to  the  congregation  and 
its  chosen  pastors.1 

But  these  abstract  doctrines  Luther  and  his  associates 
thought  themselves  prevented  by  circumstances  from  car- 
rying into  practice.  They  were  led,  also,  by  the  situation 
in  which  they  were  placed,  to  modify,  in  important  par- 
ticulars, these  theoretical  statements,  especially  on  the 
point  of  the  relations  of  the  civil  authority  to  the  Church. 
The  Germans,  Luther  said,  were  too  rough,  wild,  and 
turbulent,  and  too  unpracticed  in  self-government,  to  take 
ecclesiastical  power,  in  this  way,  into  their  hands  at  once, 
without  producing  infinite  disorders  and  confusion.  The 
princes  must  take  the  lead  in  ecclesiastical  arrangements, 
and  the  people  must  conform  to  their  wholesome  arrange- 
ments. The  authority  of  civil  rulers-  in  the  ecclesias- 
tical sphere,  was  pronounced  to  rest  partly  on  the  old 
right  of  patrons,  and  on  kindred  prerogatives  which  had 
been  enjoyed  by  the  secular  guardians  of  the  Church,  and 
partly  on  the  principle  that  princes  and  magistrates,  as 
the  principal  members  of  the  Church,  are  entitled  to  be 
heard  with  respect ;  a  doctrine  quite  compatible  with  the 
general  theory  that  Church  government  pertains  not  to 
the  clergy  alone,  but  to  the  laity,  to  the  whole  congrega- 
tion. It  was  held,  moreover,  that  it  belongs  to  civil 
rulers  to  maintain  order,  by  the  regulation  even  of  the  ex- 
ternals of  worship.  This  indefinite  function  thus  conceded 
to  the  State,  was  variously  interpreted  ;  but  the  tendency 
of  events  was  to  induce  the  Reformers  to  amplify  rather 
than  abridge  it.  The  peasants'  war  and  the  subsequent 
strife  with  the  Anabaptists,  in  which  the  coercive  agency 
of  the  princes  was  necessarily  called  in,  were  influential 
in  this  direction.  There  was  a  strong  reaction  against  the 
extreme  view  of  the  enthusiasts  who  proposed  to  divest 
the  magistrate  of  every  kind  of  authority.     Luther  is  at 

1  For  the  passages  from  Luther  and  from  the  Augsburg  Confession,  see  Giese- 
ler,  iv.  i.  2,  §  46. 


490        CONSTITUTION   OF   THE  PROTESTANT   CHURCHES. 

times  positive  in  the  assertion  that  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
civil  rulers  is  restricted  to  temporal  affairs,  to  the  protec- 
tion of  life  and  property.  This  is  the  definition  of  the 
Augsburg  Confession.  Yet,  as  special  questions  arise, 
both  Luther  and  Melancthon  attribute  to  the  State  a 
much  larger  measure  of  power  in  matters  of  religion  than 
these  terms  would  naturally  suggest.  Villages  and  cities 
should  be  compelled,  they  say,  to  have  schools  and 
preachers,  just  as  they  are  compelled  to  construct  bridges 
and  roads.  But  this  is  not  all.  It  would  be  right  for  the 
Elector  to  enjoin  the  use  of  the  Catechism,  without  which 
the  people  would  not  learn  what  it  is  to  be  a  Christian. 
They  proceed  further  and  declare  that  the  civil  magis- 
trate should  take  cognizance  of  offenses  against  the  first, 
as  well  as  against  the  second  table  of  the  law.  He  is 
morally  bound  to  suppress  and  punish  blasphemy ;  and 
this  function,  as  the  Reformation  made  progress,  was 
held  to  embrace  the  right  and  duty  of  abolishing  the 
mass.  Such  is  the  teaching  of  Melancthon  in  his  doc- 
trinal treatise,  the  "  Loci  Communes,"  and  such  was  the 
judgment  of  both  Reformers  in  response  to  special  inquiries 
addressed  to  them  by  princes.  Luther,  writing  in  1531 
to  the  Margrave,  George  of  Brandenburg,  refers  him  to 
the  example  of  the  Hebrew  King,  Hezekiah,  who  did 
right  in  breaking  in  pieces  the  brazen  serpent  of  Moses, 
although  his  act  gave  the  same  offense  to  people  as  the  abol- 
ishing of  the  mass  would  give.  The  Reformers  recurred  to 
the  instance  of  Constantine,  who,  in  his  office  of  protector 
of  the  Church,  was  disposed  to  quell  the  Arian  contro- 
versy, and  to  this  end  convoked  the  Council  of  Nicasa. 
Yet  Luther,  as  well  as  Melancthon,  foresaw  that  the 
Church  would  be  liable  to  oppression  at  the  hands  of  the 
State  ;  that  whereas  the  State,  under  the  old  system,  had 
been  stripped  of  its  rightful  powers  and  influence,  an  evil 
just  the  reverse  was  now  likely  to  emerge,  from  the  inter- 
meddling and  tyranny  of  civil  rulers.     Hence,  both  were 


THE    LUTHERAN   POLITY.  491 

willing  that  in  the  Protestant  organization  bishops  should 
be  retained  or  appointed,  who  should  have  only  a  jure  hu- 
mano  authority,  but  who  might  serve  as  a  counterpoise  to 
the  formidable  influence  of  the  State.  This  feature,  how- 
ever, was  not  introduced  into  the  Lutheran  organization. 
The  bishops  generally.not  taking  the  side  of  reform,  other 
provisions  had  to  be  made  for  the  management  of  church 
affairs.  The  political  arrangements,  especially  after  the 
Peace  of  Augsburg,  which  suspended  the  spiritual  juris- 
diction of  Roman  Catholic  prelates  over  the  adherents  of 
the  Augsburg  Confession,  and  made  the  religion  of  each 
secular  state  dependent  upon  that  of  its  ruler,  had  the 
effect  to  put  into  the  hands  of  princes  more  and  more  con- 
trol in  ecclesiastical  affairs. 

The  two  principal  characteristics  of  the  Lutheran 
polity,  as  it  was  formed  in  Saxony  and  most  Lutheran 
communities,  were  the  superintendents  and  consistories. 
Superintendents  were  first  appointed  in  the  Church  of 
Stralsund,  and  next  by  the  Elector  of  Saxony,  in  the  in- 
structions to  the  Visitors  who  were  sent,  at  the  request  of 
the  theologians,  to  the  Saxon  churches,  in  1527. 1  The 
superintendents,  in  their  respective  districts,  took  the 
place  of  bishops,  and  exercised  an  oversight  upon  the  doc- 
trine and  the  worship  of  the  churches,  and  upon  the  pas- 
tors. The  consistories  arose  from  the  need  of  a  compe- 
tent tribunal  to  adjudicate  upon  questions  relating  to 
marriage  and  divorce.  With  the  abolishing  of  the  canon 
law,  many  of  the  provisions  of  which  clashed  with  Prot- 
estant principles,  and  with  the  loss  of  the  old  episcopal 
tribunals,  numerous  and .  often  perplexing  questions  were 
brought  before  the  Lutheran  pastors.     Not  a  few  of  the 

1  The  "Instructions  to  Visitors  "  were  drawn  up  by  Melancthon.  They  in- 
cluded a  directory  for  divine  worship  and  for  the  instruction  of  the  people. 
They  established  a  uniform  system  in  the  government  and  worship  of  the 
Saxon  Churches.  The  ignorance  of  the  people  and  of  their  teachers  so  im- 
pressed Luther,  that  he  was  led  to  compose  his  Catechisms.  The  system  estab- 
lished by  the  Visitation  was  carried  out  by  force  of  law. 


492       CONSTITUTION   OF   THE  PROTESTANT   CHURCHES. 

letters  of  Luther  himself  and  of  his  associates  are  in  re- 
sponse to  petitions  for  advice  from  princes  and  private  per- 
sons, respecting  marriage  and  divorce.  The  unsettled 
views  on  this  subject  —  the  state  of  things  inevitably 
consequent  on  the  renunciation  of  the  old  system  of 
ecclesiastical  laws,  which  in  many  points  the  Reformers 
judged  to  be  unscriptural  and  unreasonable  —  must  be 
taken  into  account,  in  considering  the  conduct  of  the  Wit- 
tenberg Reformers  in  the  case  of  the  scandalous  double- 
marriage  of  the  Landgrave  of  Hesse.  But  marriage  was 
partly  a  secular  matter,  falling  under  the  cognizance  of 
the  civil  tribunals,  and  partly  ethical  and  religious,  and 
so  coming  within  the  province  of  the  Church  and  clergy. 
Hence  mixed  tribunals,  composed  partly  of  clergy  and 
partly  of  jurists,  were  constituted  by  the  civil  authority, 
and  into  the  hands  of  these  bodies,  called  consistories,  the 
same  name  which  the  former  episcopal  courts  had  borne, 
the  whole  ecclesiastical  administration,  including  the  right 
of  excommunication,  was  committed.  The  only  right 
left  to  the  churches  in  the  election  of  pastors,  was  that 
of  confirming  or  rejecting  the  nominations  made  by  the 
patrons. 

In  Brandenburg  and  Prussia,  where  the  bishops  were 
not  averse  to  the  Protestant  movement,  the  episcopal 
system  lingered  until  1587.  In  Denmark  it  was  sup- 
pressed in  1536  ;  the  Danish  superintendents  being  ap- 
pointed by  the  king.  Sweden  alone  of  the  Lutheran 
countries  has  continued  the  episcopal  organization. 

A  remarkable  attempt  was  made  in  Hesse  to  establish 
a  church  system  of  a  quite  different  character.  This  was 
made  under  the  auspices  of  Philip,  Landgrave  of  Hesse, 
who  was  governed  by  the  advice  of  Francis  Lambert,  a 
converted  Franciscan,  a  native  of  Avignon,  who  had  em- 
braced Protestantism,  and  had  resided  first  with  Zwingle 
at  Zurich  and  then  at  Wittenberg.  The  Church  consti- 
tution, to  which  we  refer,  was   devised  at   a   synod  at 


THE   SYNOD   OF   HOMBERG.  493 

Romberg,  in  1526,  and  was  democratic  in  its  principles. 
The  Gospel  was  to  be  preached  in  every  place,  and  then 
a  Church  was  to  be  organized,  to  consist  of  true  believers 
who  were  willing  to  unite  in  a  common  subjection  to  the 
rules  of  discipline.  The  body  thus  composed  was  to  choose 
its  own  pastors,  who  were  called  bishops,  and  might  be 
taken  from  any  profession,  and  to  exercise  self-government 
including  the  administration  of  a  strict  discipline  and  of  ex- 
communication where  it  should  be  required.  Every  year 
each  Church  was  to  be  represented  by  bishops  and  dele- 
gates in  a  general  synod,  where  all  complaints  were  to 
be  heard,  and  doubtful  questions  solved.  The  business  of 
the  synod  was  to  be  prepared  beforehand  by  a  commit- 
tee of  thirteen ;  and  at  each  meeting  three  visitors  were 
to  be  chosen  to  investigate  the  condition  of  each  Church. 
The  plan  may  be  described  as  the  Congregational  sys- 
tem with  an  infusion  of  Presbyterian  elements.  "  The 
features  of  it,"  says  Ranke,  "  are  the  same  as  those  on 
which  the  French,  the  Scottish,  and  the  American  Church 
was  afterwards  established ;  upon  them,  one  may  say,  the 
existence,  the  development  of  North  America  rests.  They 
have  an  immeasurable,  world-historical  importance.  At 
the  first  experiment,  they  appear  in  a  complete  form :  a 
little  German  synod  adopted  them." 

Luther  considered  the  people  quite  unprepared  for  such 
arrangements.  He  often  complained  of  the  indocile 
roughness  and  obtuseness  of  the  rustics,  who  could  not 
be  brought  to  undertake  the  support  of  their  own  minis- 
ters. Before  the  Homberg  Synod  he  had  become  con- 
vinced that  Church  arrangements,  so  much  at  variance 
with  those  with  which  the  Germans  had  been  famil- 
iar, would  prove  impracticable  and  abortive.  Artificial 
legislation,  not  a  historical  growth,  was  contrary  to  his 
ideas  :  even  Moses,  he  said,  had  set  down  what  was  cus- 
tomary and  traditional  among  his  people.  In  all  such 
matters  he  held  that  we  must  proceed  with  slow  steps. 


494        CONSTITUTION   OF   THE  PROTESTANT   CHURCHES. 

"  Little  and  well "  was  the  motto  which  he  adopted. 
Such  a  mass  of  new  laws,  he  wrote  to  the  Landgrave,  he 
could  not  approve  of :  it  was  a  great  thing  to  make  a 
law,  and  without  the  Spirit  of  God  no  good  could  come 
of  it.  Partly  from  Luther's  opposition,  and  still  more 
from  the  influence  of  the  causes  on  which  his  objections 
were  founded,  the  Hessian  constitution  was  never  fully 
set  in  operation. 

The  course  of  events  in  Germany  had  brought  the 
government  of  the  Church  into  the  hands  of  the  Protes- 
tant princes  within  their  respective  states.  Theologians 
and  jurists  proposed  various  theories  in  explanation  or 
justification  of  this  fact.  At  the  beginning  of  the  seven- 
teenth century,  the  "  episcopal  system  "  was  advocated, 
according  to  which  the  civil  rulers  were  held  to  have 
received  their  ecclesiastical  powers  from  the  Emperor, 
by  the  Treaty  of  Passau  and  the  Peace  of  Augsburg. 
Some  held  that  these  powers  were  provisionally  be- 
stowed, by  "  devolution,"  until  the  opposing  churches 
should  be  reunited  ;  others,  that  they  were  now  restored 
to  the  place  where  they  had  originally  and  rightfully  be- 
longed. At  the  end  of  the  seventeenth  century,  the 
"  territorial  system "  was  set  up,  hi  which  episcopal 
authority  —  jus  episcopale  — was  identified  with  the  con- 
ceded right  of  the  princes  to  reform  abuses  in  religion  — 
the  "jus  reformandi."  This  system  made  the  govern- 
ment of  the  Church,  not  including,  however,  the  deter- 
mination of  doctrinal  disputes,  a  part  of  the  prince's 
proper  function,  as  the  ruler  of  the  State.  This  theory 
was  advanced  by  Thomasius,  whose  opinion  was  shared 
for  substance  by  Grotius,  and  by  Selden,  the  English  de- 
fender of  the  theory  which  denies  the  autonomy  of  the 
Church,  and  is  known  under  the  name  of  Erastianism. 
Professed  at  first  in  the  interest  of  toleration,  the  "  terri- 
torial system  "  became  the  potent  instrument  of  tyranny. 
Another  theory,  the  "  collegial  system,"  was  elaborated 


POLITY    OF   THE    CALVINISTIC    CHURCHES.  495 

by  Puffendorf  and  Pfaff.  This  made  the  Church  origi- 
nally an  independent  society,  which  devolved,  by  contract, 
episcopal  authority  upon  the  civil  rulers.  The  oppression 
of  the  Church  by  the  State  —  what  the  Germans  call 
Ccesaro-papisnms  —  has  been  a  prolific  source  of  evil  in 
Lutheran  communities. 

In  the  Reformed  branch  of  the  Protestant  family  there 
was  the  same  theory  respecting  the  rights  of  the  Church 
to  govern  itself,  and  respecting  the  relation  of  Church 
and  State  as  auxiliary  to  one  another.  The  inde- 
pendence of  the  Church  upon  secular  control  was  in 
general  maintained  with  much  more  distinctness  and 
tenacity,  partly  from  the  circumstance  that  several  of 
the  Calvinistic  Churches  —  for  example,  the  churches  of 
France,  Scotland,  and  the  Netherlands  —  framed  their 
organization  as  sects,  with  no  sympathy  from  the  civil 
rulers.  This  fact  was  not  without  its  influence  in  stamp- 
ing more  republican  features  upon  their  polity.  In  Zu- 
rich, Zwingle  saw,  as  Luther  had  seen,  that  the  body  of 
the  people  were  not  ripe  for  self-government  according  to 
a  popular  method  ;  and  accordingly  ecclesiastical  author- 
ity was  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  great  Council,  which 
governed  the  city,  and  was  considered  to  represent  the 
ecclesiastical  as  well  as  civil  community.  The  clergy 
were  nominated  or  presented  by  the  magistracy,  the 
privilege  being  given  to  the  people,  who  were  convened 
for  the  purpose,  of  objecting  to  the  candidates.  Zwingle 
held,  also,  that  excommunication  should  be  left  to  the 
Christian  magistracy,  as  long  as  they  did  not  neglect 
their  duty  in  this  particular.  In  1525,  a  court  composed 
of  pastors  and  civilians  was  constituted  for  the  decision 
of  questions  pertaining  to  marriage  and  divorce.  The 
infliction  of  all  punishments  was  relegated  to  the  civil 
authority.  The  principle  of  the  parity  of  the  clergy  was 
strictly  adhered  to.  (Ecolampadius  at  Basel  endeavored 
to  restore  church  discipline  to  the  Church  itself,  but  his 


496      THE   CONSTITUTION   OF   THE  PROTESTANT   CHURCHES. 

efforts  in  this  direction,  though  partially  successful  for 
a  time,  soon  failed  ;  and  the  Zurich  system,  in  its  es- 
sential characteristics,  was  adopted  in  the  other  Swiss 
Cantons. 

The  doctrine  of  Calvin  with  regard  to  the  proper  con- 
stitution of  the  Church  and  the  connection  of  Church  and 
State,  is  set  forth  with  his  usual  clearness  in  the  Insti- 
tutes.    The  officers  of  the  Church  are,  besides  deacons, 
lay  elders   who,   in  conjunction   with   the   clergy,  have 
charge  of  church  discipline.     The  equality  of  the  clergy, 
or   the   identity  of  presbyters  and   bishops,  is  affirmed. 
The  officers  are  to  be  chosen  by  the  congregation,  under 
the  lead  and  presidency  of  the  officers  already  existing. 
Calvin,  in  speaking  of  the  constitution  of  the  State,  does 
not  conceal  his  partiality  for  an  aristocratic  form  modified 
by  democratic  elements  ;  and  this  feeling,  notwithstand- 
ing his  view  that  power  resides  ultimately  in  the  congre- 
gation, betrays  itself  in  his  remarks  on  the  proper  method 
of  electing  officers  of  the  Church.     The  Church  has  no 
authority  to  use  force  or  inflict  civil  punishments  of  any 
sort.     Its  functions  are  purely  spiritual.     On  the  other 
hand,  the  State  has  no  moral  right  to  intrude  within  the 
jurisdiction  of    the   Church   or  to    diminish   its    liberty. 
Nevertheless,  the  State  is  bound  to  cooperate  with  the 
Church,  and  to  aid  it  by  the  efficient  use  of  distinctly 
civil   instrumentalities.     Calvin   rejects  the  theory  that 
the  State  has  cognizance  only  of  the  worldly  concerns  of 
men.     It  is  the  first  and   most  imperative  duty  of   the 
magistrate  to  foster  religion,  and  hence  he  is  solemnly 
bound  to  punish  and  extirpate  heresy.     He  says  that  if 
"  the    Scripture    did   not  teach    that   this    office  (of    the 
magistracy)  extends  to  both  tables  of  the  law,  we  might 
learn  it  from  heathen  writers ;  for  not  one  of  them  has 
treated  of  the  office  of  magistrates,  of   legislation,  and 
civil  government,   without  beginning  with  religion  and 
divine  worship."     It  belongs  to  government  to  see  uthat 


CALVINISTS  ON  CONNECTION  OF  CHURCH  AND  STATE.     497 

idolatry,  sacrileges  against  the  name  of  God,  blasphemies 
against  his  truth,  and  other  offenses  against  religion,  may 
not  openly  appear  and  be  disseminated  among  the  peo- 
ple." "  Civil  government  is  designed,  as  long  as  we  live 
in  this  world,  to  cherish  and  support  the  external  wor- 
ship of  God,  to  preserve  the  pure  doctrine  of  religion, 
to  defend  the  constitution  of  the  Church,"  as  well  as  to 
promote  the  temporal  interests  of  men.  This  idea  of 
the  relation  of  government  to  religion  prevailed  among 
Calvinists  ;  it  is  distinctly  asserted  in  the  Confession  of 
the  Westminster  Assembly.  Nor  was  it  peculiar  to 
them  ;  it  is  stated  by  Melancthon  in  language  similar  to 
that  employed  by  Calvin.  It  is  substantially  the  view 
which  had  been  held  in  the  Catholic  Church.  It  has 
been  said  of  Calvin  with  truth,  that  "  he  labored  to  pro- 
duce in  men  a  deeper  reverence  for  religious  acts  and 
persons,  to  make  them  conscious  of  the  mystic  union  that 
subsists  among  all  true  believers,  and  especially  to  invest 
the  doctrine  of  the  visible  Church  with  new  significance, 
on  the  ground  that  it  is  instituted,  not  as  any  mere  con- 
ventional establishment,  but  for  the  training  and  matur- 
ing of  human  souls  in  faith  and  holiness."  He  fought 
a  battle  in  defense  of  the  prerogative  of  the  Church  to 
excommunicate  offending  members,  and  to  deny  the 
Eucharist  to  the  unworthy  ;  and  he  vindicated  this  right 
against  the  interference  of  the  civil  authority.  He  first 
established  the  eldership  in  full  vigor,  committing  the 
regulation  of  doctrine  and  discipline  to  a  body  of  clerical 
and  lay  pastors,  there  being  twice  as  many  laymen  as 
ministers  on  the  board.  Geneva  being  so  small  a  terri- 
tory, the  synodal  constitution  could  not  be  developed  as 
it  was  in  other  Calvinistic  churches.  The  powers  that 
were  attributed  to  the  Church  by  Calvin's  theory  tended 
to  give  the  entire  system  of  government  at  Geneva  the 
character  of  a  theocracy  ;  but  this  tendency  was  modi- 
fied in  its  effect  by  the  ngency  given  to  the  Councils  in 

32 


498  THE  CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  PROTESTANT  CHURCHES. 

the  selection  of  church  officers,  and  by  other  features 
in  which  there  was  a  departure  from  the  strict  principle 
of  independence  and  self-government  on  the  part  of  the 
Church. 

The  Presbyterian  constitution  was  adopted,  with  special 
varieties  of  form,  in  the  Protestant  churches  of  Scotland, 
France,  and  the  Netherlands.  In  Scotland,  there  was 
at  first  an  approximation,  on  one  point,  at  least,  to  the 
Lutheran  system  ;  since  in  1531,  superintendents  were 
appointed,  their  jurisdiction  being  coextensive  with  the 
ancient  diocesan  divisions.  But  this  was  a  transient 
arrangement.  Nowhere  did  the  hatred  of  prelacy,  and  of 
everything  that  looked  like  it,  become  more  fervent  than 
in  Scotland.  The  Presbyterian  system  was  fully  estab- 
lished, and  affirmed  to  exist  by  divine  right.  There  were 
two  classes  of  elders  constituted  —  ruling,  or  lay  elders, 
and  preaching  elders  —  who  together  formed  the  Kirk- 
session  and  exercised  government  in  the  Church.  Vacan- 
cies in  the  lay  part  of  the  session  were  filled  by  the  body 
itself,  on  the  nomination  of  the  pastor.  The  highest  tribu- 
nal for  the  exercise  of  Church  authority  was  the  General 
Assembly  or  National  Synod,  in  which  the  ministerial 
representatives  were  on  a  footing  of  perfect  equality.  In 
France,  the  churches  being  separately  organized,  were  at 
first  autonomic  in  their  polity,  the  preacher  with  the  lay 
elders  and  deacons  forming  the  consistory  or  senate,  the 
governing  body.  While  in  Geneva,  the  elders  were  cho- 
sen for  life,  in  France  they  were  elected  only  for  a  term 
of  years.  Vacancies  were  filled  on  the  nomination  of 
the  consistory  itself.  In  France  the  elders  confined  them- 
selves to  the  exercise  of  government  and  discipline,  and 
did  not,  as  at  Geneva,  visit  the  houses  or  cooperate  offi- 
cially with  the  pastors  in  the  cure  of  souls.  This  auxil- 
iary service  was  devolved  on  the  deacons.  In  1559,  the 
synodal  constitution  was  introduced,  by  which  the  au- 
thority that  had  resided  in  the  consistories  was  limited, 


CHURCH   AND   STATE  IN  ENGLAND.  499 

supreme  jurisdiction  being  placed  in  the  National  Synod, 
which  formed  the  highest  court,  and  exercised  a  general 
superintendence  in  matters  of  doctrine  and  discipline.1 
The  Presbyterians  have  always  manifested  a  jealousy  of 
state-control  and  a  disposition  to  keep  the  government  of 
the  Church  in  its  own  hands.  But  in  England,  at  the 
epoch  of  the  Long  Parliament  and  the  Westminster  As- 
sembly, concessions  had  to  'be  made,  in  consequence  of 
the  want  of  unanimity  in  the  adoption  of  Presbyterian 
principles  and  the  refusal  of  Parliament  to  surrender 
the  supreme  power  in  ecclesiastical  affairs.2 

The  relation  of  the  established  Church  to  the  State  in 
England,  where  the  principal  control  in  ecclesiastical  af- 
fairs was  assumed  by  the  civil  authority,  has  been  vari- 
ously defined.  For  a  while,  the  Byzantine  theory,  which 
conceives  of  the  King  as  possessed  of  a  sort  of  priestly 

1  A  serious  dispute  broke  out  in  the  French  Church  in  1571  between  the  ad- 
vocates of  a  type  of  Congregationalism,  of  whom  the  celebrated  Ramus  was 
one,  and  the  defenders  of  the  established  system,  which  lodged  the  powers  of 
government  in  the  Consistory.  The  Massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew  caused  the 
subject  to  be  forgotten.  For  notices  of  this  interesting  controversy,  see  Martin, 
Hist.de  France,  ix.  277,  n.  2;  Weber,  Dirstellung  d.  Calcinismus,  p.  59  n. ;  Von 
Polenz,  Geschichte  d.  franzfcisch.  Calv.,  i.  422,  709;  Schlosser,  Leben  Beza,  p. 
219. 

2  The  order  of  worship  which  was  adopted  in  the  different  Reformed  Churches 
was  in  accord  with  their  respective  ideas  of  doctrine  and  polity.  Luther  re- 
tained many  of  the  ancient  forms ;  but  he  gave  to  the  sermon  a  place  of  central 
importance,  and  was  careful  to  insist  that  the  arrangements  of  the  Witten- 
berg Service  Book  should  not  be  imposed  on  others.  We  must  be  masters  of 
ceremonies  —  not  let  them  be  masters  of  us  —  was  his  motto.  The  singing  of 
hymns  assumed  a  prominent  place  in  Lutheran  worship.  The  changes  of  Zwin- 
gle  were  much  more  radical.  In  Zurich,  church  singing  was  given  up  until 
1598.  At  Basel  and  some  other  Swiss  towns,  however,  the  German  Psalms  were 
sung.  The  Church  of  Geneva  followed  substantially  the  Zurich  service,  but 
used  the  French  versions  of  the  Psalms,  by  Marot  and  Beza.  The  Genevan 
Service  Book  served  as  a  model  for  various  other  Reformed  Churches.  On  this 
whole  subject,  see  Gieseler,  iv.  i.  2,  §  47,  where  the  literature  is  given.  The 
Liturgy  of  the  Anglican  Church  was  largely  drawn  from  the  old  service-books. 
See  F.  Procter,  A  History  of  the  Booh  of  Common  Prayer  (7th  ed.,  New  York, 
1868).  A.  J.  Stephens,  The  Book  of  Common  Prayer,  with  notes,  legal  and  his- 
torical (1849).  W.  Maskell,  The  Ancient  Liturgy  of  the  Church  of  England 
(2d  ed.,  1840).  C.  W.  Shields,  The  Book  of  Common  Prayer,  as  amended  by 
the  West.  Divines;  with  a  Hist,  and  Liturgical  Treatise  (1867). 


500   THE   CONSTITUTION   OF   THE   PROTESTANT   CHURCHES. 

function,  as  being  an  ecclesiastical  as  well  as  a  civil  per- 
son, seems  to  have  been  tacitly  held.  His  headship  over 
the  Church  and  control  in  ecclesiastical  government  were 
justified  on  this  hypothesis.  The  Erastian  doctrine,  ac- 
cording to  which  the  Church,  as  -such,  has  none  of  the 
prerogatives  of  government,  which  inhere  wholly  in  the 
State,  had  its  adherents  in  England,  and  left  its  influence 
upon  the  English  polity.  It  was  the  theory  of  Hooker 
that  the  Church  of  any  particular  country,  and  the  State 
there  existing,  are  one  and  the  same  society.  They  are 
not  two  distinct  societies  which  unite  or  coalesce  in  a  de- 
gree ;  but  they  are  one  and  the  same  social  body,  which, 
as  related  to  temporal  concerns,  and  all  things  except 
true  religion,  is  the  commonwealth  ;  as  related  to  religion, 
is  the  Church.1  The  supremacy  of  the  King,  if  the  gov- 
ernment is  monarchical,  over  the  Church,  is  the  corollary  of 
this  proposition.  Among  the  modern  advocates  of  this 
hypothesis,  one  of  the  ablest  is  the  late  Dr.  Arnold.  In 
idea,  the  Church  and  State,  he  thinks,  are  identical.  Their 
end,  their  ergon,  is  the  same.  He  rejects,  with  all  his 
heart,  the  modern  theory  that  the  design  of  the  State  is 
limited  to  the  protection  of  body  and  goods.  The  State, 
in  its  very  idea,  is  religious,  and  is  bound  to  aim  at  the 
promotion  of  religion.  Rejecting,  also,  the  doctrine  of 
apostolic  succession  and  of  a  priestly  order,  Arnold  finds 
in  the  King's  supremacy  an  emblem  and  a  realization  of 
the  truth  that  the  laity  have  a  right  to  govern  in  the 
Church.  The  more  the  State  is  pervaded  by  the  spirit  of 
Christianity,  the  more  is  the  Church,  as  a  separate  body, 

1  Eccleslast.  Polity,  b.  viii.  "We  say  that  the  care  of  religion  being  com- 
mon to  all  societies  politic,  such  societies  as  do  embrace  the  true  religion  have 
the  name  of  Church  given  unto  every  one  of  them  for  distinction  from  the 
rest."  "When  we  oppose,  therefore,  the  Church  and  Commonwealth  in  Chris- 
tian society,  we  mean  by  the  Commonwealth  that  society  with  relation  to  all 
the  public  affairs  thereof,  only  the  matter  of  true  religion  excepted:  by  the 
Church,  the  same  society  with  only  reference  unto  the  matter  of  true  religion, 
without  any  affairs  besides." 


THEORIES    OF   WARBURTON   AND    COLERIDGE.  501 

superseded.  The  ideal  towards  which  we  are  to  strive  is 
the  identification  of  the  two.1 

The  theory  of  Warburton  proceeds  upon  a  denial  of 
the  identity  of  Church  and  State.2  They  are  in  their 
own  nature  and  originally,  distinct  and  separate  societies. 
But  this  mutual  independence  does  not  of  necessity  con- 
tinue. They  may  enter  into  an  alliance  with  one  another 
upon  certain  terms,  the  result  of  which  is  a  connection 
and  mutual  dependence  of  the  two.  The  Church  enters 
into  a  relation  of  subordination  to  the  State,  the  State 
making  stipulations  which  bind  it  to  support  the  Church. 
There  is  a  contract  with  conditions  to  be  fulfilled  on 
either  side.  If  the  State  should  fail  to  fulfill  these  en- 
gagements, the  Church  may  withdraw  from  the  connection, 
and  then  falls  back  upon  its  original  condition  of  inde- 
pendence. 

Coleridge  has  suggested  a  theory  somewhat  diverse 
from  that  of  Warburton.3  The  hypothesis  of  Coleridge, 
as  far  as  it  is  peculiar,  is  founded  on  a  distinction  between 
the  visible  Church  of  Christ,  as  it  may  be  found  in  any 
particular  country,  and  the  national  or  established  Church 
of  that  country.  The  visible  Church  is  a  kingdom  not  of 
this  world  ;  it  manages  its  own  affairs,  appoints  and  sup- 
ports its  own  ministers.  The  State  is  competent  neither 
to  appoint  nor  to  displace  these  ministers,  nor  is  it  re- 
sponsible for  their  maintenance.  The  national  Church, 
on  the  contrary,  is  a  public  and  visible  community,  having 
ministers  whom  the  nation,  through  the  agency  of  a  con- 
stitution, has  created  trustees  of  a  reserved  national  fund, 
upon  fixed  terms,  and  with  defined  duties,  and  whom  in  the 
case  of  breach  of  those  terms,  or  dereliction  of  those  du- 

1  See  Arnold's  Life  and  Correspondence  (by  Stanley),  passim;  and  Arnold's 
Miscellaneous  Writings.  The  eminent  German  theologian,  Rothe,  has  advocated 
a  similar  theory,  in  his  Ckristliche  Ethik,  and  in  his  posthumous  Doymatik, 
iii.  32  seq. 

2  This  and  other  theories  are  sketched  in  the  Preface  to  Coleridge's  Church 
and  State,  by  H.  N.  Coleridge.     Coleridge's  Woi-ks  (ed.  Shedd),  vol.  vi. 

3  Works,  vol.  vi. 


502      THE   CONSTITUTION   OF   THE  PROTESTANT    CHURCHES. 

ties,  the  nation,  through  the  same  agency,  may  discharge." 
But  the  ministers  of  the  one  Church  may  also  .be  the  min- 
isters of  the  other  ;  the  ministers  of  the  visible  Church 
of  Christ  may  be,  also,  the  ministers  of  the  national  or 
established  Church.  This  is,  for  many  reasons,  expedi- 
ent, and  is  actually  the  case.  Thus  the  titles,  emolu- 
ments, and  political  power  of  the  clergy,  belong  to  them, 
not  as  ministers  of  the  Church  of  Christ,  which  is  not 
national  or  local,  but  as  an  estate  of  the  realm  ;  as  a  body 
charged  with  the  vast  responsibility  of  preserving  and 
promoting  the  moral  culture  of  the  people.  In  this  ca- 
pacity they  may  sit  in  Parliament,  which  is  the  great 
Council  of  the  nation. 

Mr.  Gladstone,  in  his  work  on  "  Church  and  State," 
some  of  the  doctrines  of  which  he  has  since  renounced, 
does  not  differ  materially  from  Coleridge.1  Mr.  Glad- 
stone holds,  that  the  State  is  a  moral  person,  bound  to  act 
in  the  name  of  Christ  and  for  the  glory  of  God,  and  to 
make  religion  the  paramount  end  in  guiding  and  govern- 
ing the  nation.  But  he  claims  that  the  true  Church, 
which  has  in  it  the  apostolic  succession,  must  be  the  body 
chosen  by  the  nation  for  the  performance  of  this  high 
office.  He  admits  that  there  may  be  a  condition  of 
religious  opinion,  where  this  alliance  of  the  State  with 
the  Church  is  impracticable,  as  is  the  case  in  the  United 
States  ;  but  in  all  such  communities,  he  considers  the  life 
of  the  State  maimed,  imperfect,  conventional. 

Chalmers  maintains  that  an  establishment  is  necessary 
to  the  proper  effect  of  Christianity  upon  a  people.2  The 
State,  he  thinks,  is  bound  to  select  and  support  some  one 
denomination,  and  maintain  its  religious  teachers.  In 
making  the  selection,  the  State  must  be  governed,  if  this 
be  practicable,  by  a  consideration  of  the  truth  or  error  of 
the  tenets  of  the  various  religious  bodies.     It  must  in- 

1  The  State  in  Connection  with  the  Church  (1th  ed.,  1841). 

2  Works,  vol.  xvii. 


THEORIES   OF   AN   ESTABLISHMENT.  503 

quire,  what  is  truth.  But  if  religious  opinion  is  so 
divided,  or  the  circumstances  are  such,  that  this  cannot 
be  made  the  sole  criterion,  some  one  "  Protestant," 
"  evangelical  "  denomination  must  be  chosen. 

Macaulay,  in  his  review  of  Gladstone's  book,  repre- 
sents the  lowest,  or  most  moderate  type  of  opinion  among 
the  advocates  of  an  Establishment.1  He  denies  that  the 
direct  end  of  government  is  the  propagation  of  religion. 
The  direct  end  of  governments  is  the  protection  of  life 
and  property.  This  is  the  proper  and  only  essential 
function  of  the  State.  But  while  pursuing  this  end,  the 
State  may  and  should,  as  a  collateral  object,  have  in  view 
the  moral  and  religious  improvement  of  the  people. 
Especially  may  public  education  be  defended  as  neces- 
sary to  the  safety  of  the  State.  The  promotion  of  re- 
ligion is  an  incidental,  not  a  direct  or  main  business  of 
the  civil  organization.  In  selecting  its  Church,  or  the 
religious  instructors  of  the  people,  the  State  or  govern- 
ment must  be  determined,  not,  indeed,  by  the  mere  will 
of  a  majority,  but  not  by  its  own  views  of  truth  exclu- 
sively ;  but  must  act  in  such  a  way  as  to  secure  the 
largest  proportion  of  truth  with  the  smallest  admixture 
of  error.  Hence  the  religious  views  and  prejudices  that 
prevail  in  the  community  must  always  be  consulted  and 
respected. 

In  the  English  system,  the  filling  of  all  higli  ecclesi- 
astical offices  devolves  on  the  sovereign,  the  ecclesiastical 
bodies  not  being  at  liberty  to  refuse  the  formal  concur- 
rence which  is  required  to  fulfill  the  election.  The  two 
provinces  of  York  and  Canterbury  have  each  its  Cm  1  vo- 
cation, composed  of  two  houses,  the  first  consisting  of  the 
bishops,  and  the  second,  of  the  rest  of  the  clerg]  j  and 
the  two  Convocations  may  combine.  But  Convocation 
cannot  assemble  without  authority  from  Parliament,  nor 
is  it  possible  for  any  ecclesiastical  laws  or  canons  to  be 

1  Macauluy's  Essays,  vol.  iv. 


504      THE   CONSTITUTION   OF   THE   PROTESTANT   CHURCHES. 

passed  without  the  consent  of  Parliament.  The  result 
has  been  that  for  nearly  two  centuries,  Convocation  has 
had  little  more  than  a  nominal  existence.  To  this  extent 
has  synodal  government  vanished  in  the  English  Church, 
and  the  government  of  the  Church  been  surrendered  to 
the  State.1 

Turning  to  the  Catholic  Church,  we  find,  in  the  latter 
part  of  the  sixteenth  century,  a  singular  development  of 
doctrine  on  the  origin  and  nature  of  civil  authority. 
High  views  of  Papal  authority,  as  extending  over  mun- 
dane affairs,  were  promulgated  by  the  Popes  themselves, 
and  by  the  Catholic  theologians,  especially  those  of  the 
Jesuit  order.  The  centralization  of  Europe,  which  gave 
such  increased  vigor  to  national  feeling  and  to  temporal 
authority,  made  it  for  the  interest  of  the  Papal  See  to 
divest  that  authority  of  a  portion  of  its  sanctity.  Bellar- 
mine  adopted  the  figure  which  had  been  used  by  Thomas 
Aquinas  to  define  the  distinction,  but  close  connection, 
of  the  civil  and  the  Papal  authority.  The  former  is  to 
the  latter  as  the  body  to  the  soul.  The  two  are  not  the 
same,  but  the  one  is  inferior  and  subordinate  to  the  other  ; 
at  the  same  time  that  the  body  has  functions  of  its  own. 
Bellarmine  affirmed  only  an  indirect  control  on  the  part 
of  the  Pope  over  the  temporal  power.  The  Pope  does 
not  immediately  legislate  in  temporal  affairs.  •  Yet  as  the 

1  Convocation,  in  1665,  surrendered  the  privilege  of  taxing  the  clergy,  which 
had  before  pertained  to  it,  to  the  House  of  Commons.  Within  the  last  twenty 
years  attempts  have  been  made  to  revive  Convocation,  and  to  invest  it  with  some 
real  function.  Boswell  records  a  vigorous  expression  of  Dr.  Johnson,  on  this 
matter,  under  date  of  August  3,  1763:  "I  had  the  misfortune  before  we  parted 
to  irritate  him  unintentionally.  I  mentioned  to  him  how  common  it  was  in  the 
world  to  ascribe  to  him  very  strange  sayings.  Johnson.  —  '  What  do  they 
make  me  say,  sir?'  Boswell.  —  'Why,  sir,  an  instance  very  strange  in- 
deed (laughing  heartily  as  I  spoke).  David  Hume  told  me  }'OU  said  that  you  would 
stand  before  a  battery  of  cannon  to  restore  Convocation  to  its  full  powers.' 
Little  did  I  apprehend  that  he  had  actually  said  this;  but  I  was  soon  convinced 
of  my  error;  for,  with  a  determined  look,  he  thundered  out:  'And  would  I 
not,  sir?  Shall  the  Presbyterian  Kirk  of  Scotland  have  its  General  Assembly, 
and  the  Church  of  England  be  denied  its  Convocation?  '  " 


JESUIT    DOCTRINE   OF   POPULAR    SOVEREIGNTY.  505 

guardian  of  religion  and  morals,  he  may  interfere  to  pre- 
vent the  passing  or  execution  of  a  bad  law.  He  may 
absolve  subjects  from  their  allegiance  to  a  heretical 
or  unworthy  king.  A  vast  and  sweeping,  though,  in 
form,  an  indirect  prerogative,  in  reference  to  the  govern- 
ment of  States,  is  thus  attributed  to  him.  The  right  to 
rebel  against  heretical  sovereigns,  and  to  dethrone  them, 
was  taught  by  the  Jesuits,  William  Allen  and  Parsons, 
who  were  laboring  to  overthrow  Elizabeth,  and  by  other 
Catholic  teachers  in  the  time  of  the  League,  and  of  the 
assassination  of  Henry  III.  The  right  of  rebellion,  in  the 
case  supposed,  was  solemly  affirmed  by  the  Sorbonne. 
The  first  defense  of  regicide  had  come  from  a  priest, 
Jean  Petit,  who  delivered  a  discourse  in  1408,  defending 
the  murder  of  the  Duke  of  Orleans  by  the  Duke  of  Bur- 
gundy. It  had  required  the  strenuous  exertions  and 
repeated  harangues  of  Gerson,  at  the  Council  of  Con- 
stance, to  procure  from  that  body  a  condemnation  of  the 
doctrine  of  Petit.  The  attempt  of  the  Poles  to  obtain 
from  Martin  V.,  and  from  the  Council,  a  condemnation 
of  the  book  of  Falkenberg,  which  was  of  kindred  tenor, 
and  which  aimed  to  stir  up  insurrection  in  Poland,  en- 
tirely failed.  The  Jesuits  were  expelled  from  Paris  in  the 
early  days  of  Henry  IV.,  on  the  charge  of  inculcating 
the  right  to  slay,  by  private  hands,  a  heretical  ruler. 
The  old  doctrine  of  tyrannicide  assumed  a  new  form,  and 
found  adherents  among  doctors  of  the  Church.  But  in 
the  theory  of  popular -sovereignty,  and  of  the  social  .im- 
pact, the  peculiar  tendencies  of  Catholic  theology  are 
most  apparent.  This  was  advocated  by  Lainez,  the 
second  General  of  the  Jesuit  Order,  by  the  eminent 
Spanish  Jesuit,  Mariana,  and  by  Bellarmine.  Ii  is  fcke 
doctrine  that  power,  as  far  as  temporal  rule  is  concerned, 
originally  resides,  by  the  gift  and  appointment  of  <  rod,  in 
the  people.  Government  is  a  divine  ordinance,  but  what 
form  that  government  shall  take,  and  in  whom  it  shall  be 


506      THE    CONSTITUTION   OF   THE    PROTESTANT    CHURCHES. 

vested,  it  is  for  the  people  to  determine.  What  the  Prot- 
estants asserted  respecting  ecclesiastical  government,  the 
Jesuits  declared  of  civil  government.  As  the  former 
taught  that  ecclesiastical  power  is  originally  deposited  in 
the  body  of  the  Church,  the  latter  declared  that  temporal 
power  inheres,  originally,  in  the  body  of  the  people. 
The  political  theory  of  the  Jesuits  had  the  advantage 
of  placing  the  authority  of  the  Pope  and  his  tenure  of 
office,  on  a  more  solid  foundation  than  that  of  the  power 
of  any  particular  dynasty  or  king.  The  rule  of  the  Pope 
was  given  him  directly  from  God,  and,  therefore,  could 
neither  be  questioned  nor  wrested  from  him  by  men.  The 
authority  of  the  king,  on  the  contrary,  came  to  him 
mediately,  through  the  people,  and  might  be  recalled  at 
their  will.  This  political  doctrine,  moreover,  furnished  a 
sufficient  defense  for  a  popular  rebellion,  especially  if  it 
were  undertaken  with  the  sanction  of  the  Pope.  It  is 
curious  to  observe  that  the  radical  speculations  of  Locke, 
Rousseau,  and  Jefferson,  as  to  the  origin  of  government, 
and  the  right  of  revolution,  were  anticipated  by  the 
Jesuit  scholars  of  the  sixteenth  century.  It  is  remark- 
able, moreover,  that,  in  opposition  to  these  novel  dogmas, 
there  appeared,  on  the  Protestant  side,  a  theory  of  the 
divine  right  of  kings,  and  the  related  doctrine  of  passive 
obedience,  a  theory  not  known  to  the  cultivated  heathen 
nations  of  antiquity,  and  drawing  no  real  sanction  from 
Hebrew  history.  The  extreme  devotees  of  the  principle 
of  authority  stand  forth  as  the  champions  of  the  most 
liberal,  and  even  revolutionary  notions,  in  politics  ;  the 
advocates  of  freedom  and  of  revolt  against  spiritual  author- 
ity, are  equally  strenuous  for  slavish  maxims  of  political 
obedience. 

Transplanted  to  America,  the  various  ecclesiastical 
systems  were  furnished  with  a  new  theatre  for  the  mani- 
festation of  their  characteristic  features,  but  underwent 
changes,  from   the   effect   of  the   new  circumstances   in 


THE   SETTLERS    OF   NEW   ENGLAND.  507 

which  they  were  placed.  The  followers  of  John  Robin- 
son, who  settled  Plymouth,  were  Independents.  Their 
cardinal  principles  were,  first  that  the  local  Church  is 
clothed  with  complete  powers  of  self-government,  in  the 
sense  that  no  Synod  or  Council  has  any  jurisdiction  over 
it ;  and  secondly,  that  none  are  to  be  admitted  to  the 
Lord's  Supper,  except  on  the  credible  profession  of  in- 
ward piety  ;  that  is,  that  the  Church  should  be  composed 
of  true  believers  only.  The  liberal  and  philosophical 
mind  of  Robinson  had  attained  to  principles  which  ap- 
proach, though  they  do  not  reach,  the  modern  doctrine 
of  toleration  and  of  the  limited  sphere  of  the  State.  He 
has  sagacious  observations  on  the  inexpediency  and  mis- 
chievous consequences  of  coercion  by  the  magistrate  in 
matters  of  religion,  and  confutes  the  popular  argument 
for  it,  which  was  founded  on  the  example  of  the  Hebrew 
kings.  He  shrewdly  comments  on  the  difference  in  the 
sentiment  respecting  toleration,  which  is  felt  by  the  ad- 
herents of  a  creed  when  they  are  in  power,  from  thai 
which  they  feel  when  they  form  an  oppressed  minorit}'.1 
The  colony  of  Plymouth  was  honorably  distinguished 
from  the  other  New  England  governments  —  with  the  ex- 
ception of  Rhode  Island  —  by  a  greater  liberality  in  Hie 
treatment  of  religious  dissent.  The  settlers  of  Massa- 
chusetts Bay  were  not  Separatists,  like  the  Leyden  im- 
migrants, who  had  preceded  them;  but  still  the  settlers 
of  Massachusetts,  finding  themselves  on  ground  of  their 
own,  and  at  liberty  to  shape  their  polity  to  suit  their  pref- 
erences, established  the  system  of  Congregationalism, 
in  full  agreement  with  the  Church  constitution  of  Plym- 
outh. But  Massachusetts  set  up  a  sort  of  fcheocratical 
system,  in  which  members  of  churches  were  endued  with 
the  exclusive  privilege  of  holding  civil  offices  and  exer- 
cising the  right  of  suffrage;  in  which,  moreover,  the 
civil    authority  was   authorized    and    obliged    to    punish 

1   Works  of  Robinson  (Boston,  1851),  i.  40. 


508  THE  CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  PROTESTANT  CHURCHES. 

heresy  and  schism,  and  to  secure  uniformity  in  worship 
and  in  the  public  profession  of  religion.  The  same  sys- 
tem was  established  in  the  colony  of  New  Haven  ;  but 
in  Connecticut,  civil  rights  were  not  thus  limited  to 
church  members.  The  principle  of  the  independence  of 
the  local  Church  as  to  government,  one  of  the  two  cardi- 
nal elements  of  the  creed  of  the  Independents,  was  re- 
tained in  the  Congregational  churches  of  New  England, 
as  far  as  the  relation  of  one  church  to  other  churches  is 
concerned.  The  office  of  other  churches  was  limited  to 
giving  counsel.  But  the  autonomy  of  the  local  Church 
was  materially  abridged  in  another  direction,  in  the  co- 
ercive power  granted  to  the  civil  magistracy,  and  the 
intimate  union  of  Church  and  State.  Roger  Williams 
brought  forward  the  new  doctrine  as  to  the  State,  which 
limits  the  function  of  the  magistrate  to  the  cognizance 
of  offenses  against  the  second  table  of  the  law.  This 
doctrine  involves  the  toleration  of  all  forms  of  religious 
belief  and  worship,  as  far  as  they  do  not  directly  disturb 
the  peace  of  society,  or  impinge  on  the  authority  of  the 
magistrate  in  his  own  proper  sphere.  The  principle  of 
religious  liberty,  which  Williams  asserted  in  Massachu- 
setts, was  incorporated  in  the  government  of  the  colony 
which  he  founded  in  Rhode  Island,  and  is  the  principle 
to  which  the  American  systems  of  government  have 
gradually  conformed.1  In  this  country,  nothing  of  the 
nature  of  an  establishment  now  exists.  But  with  re- 
gard to  the  relation  of  the  civil  authority  to  Christianity, 
a  distinction  is  to  be  made  between  the  Federal  Govern- 
ment, and  the  several  States,  especially  the  older  States, 
that  compose  the  Republic.  The  General  Government 
was  created  artificially,  for  certain  purposes,  and  with  a 

1  In  Maryland,  founded  by  Lord  Baltimore,  a  Roman  Catholic  (1632),  although 
there  was  religious  freedom  for  all  "who  believe  in  Christ,"  there  was  an  es- 
tablishment. Such  a  colony,  subject  to  England,  would  have  brought  ruin  on 
itself  by  attempting  to  persecute  Protestants.  But  its  professed  principles  were 
truly  liberal  for  that  age.  See  Bancroft,  Hist,  of  the  United  States,  i.  242,  254, 
Hildreth,  Hist,  of  the  United  States,  i.  348. 


THE   CHURCH   IN   THE   UNITED   STATES.  509 

defined  circle  of  powers.  The  National  Constitution  con- 
tains no  explicit  recognition  of  Christianity,  and  lends  do 
special  sanction  to  any  form  of  religion.  On  the  contrary, 
a  general  recognition  of  Christianity  lingers  in  the  consti- 
tutions of  many  of  the  older  States,  at  least,  and  is  im- 
plied in  various  statutes  ;  so  that  Christianity  must  be 
considered,  in  some  sense,  a  part  of  their  public  law. 

Both  the  Episcopal  and  the  Presbyterian  Churches, 
as  organized  in  this  country,  modify  respectively  their 
early  formularies,  so  that  the  control  of  the  magistracy 
in  respect  to  synods  and  ecclesiastical  affairs  generally, 
is  left  out ;  and  the  governing  bodies  in  these  denomina- 
tions are  free,  of  course,  to  exercise  Church  authority, 
independently  of  the  State. 

The  Roman  Catholic  Church,  in  the  United  States,  is 
consistent  with  its  dogmas  and  traditions  in  advocating 
the  distinction  between  Church  and  State.  So  far,  the 
American  system  may  be,  and  is,  approved  and  lauded 
by  theologians  of  that  body.  They  join  with  American 
Protestants  in  opposing  religious  establishments,  such  as 
exist  in  other  Protestant  countries.  They  do  not,  how- 
ever, renounce  the  old  doctrine  of  the  subordination  of  the 
State  to  the  Church,  and  of  the  authority  of  the  latter 
in  matters  of  civil  government  and  legislation.  So  far 
from  this,  the  right  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  to 
exercise  this  sort  of  control  is  frankly  and  boldly  asserted.1 

1  See,  for  example,  the  first  article  in  "  The  Catholic  World  "  for  July,  1872. 
The  writer  says :  "With  the  means  of  instant  intelligent  communication  and 
rapid  transportation,  it  is  not  an  impossibility  to  hope  that  the  head  of  the 
Church  may  again  become  the  acknowledged  head  of  the  re-united  family  of 
Christian  nations;  the  arbiter  and  judge  between  princes  and  peoples,  between 
government  and  government,  the  exponent  of  the  supreme  justice  and  the 
highest  law,  in  all  important  questions  affecting  the  rights,  the  interests,  and 
the  welfare  of  communities  and  individuals."  The  righl  of  the  Church  to 
regulate  education  and  marriage  is  affirmed.  "  While  the  Mate  has  rights,  she 
has  them  only  in  virtue  and  by  permission  of  the  superior  authority,  and  that 
authority  can  only  be  expressed  through  the  Church;  that  is  through  tin- or- 
ganic law.  infallibly  announced  and  unchangeably  asserted,  regardless  of  tem- 
poral consequences."  This  ideal  supremacy  of  the  Church,  it  is  said,  "it  is 
within  the  power  of  the  ballot,  wielded  by  Catholic  hands,'-  to  establish. 


CHAPTER    XV. 

THE    RELATION   OF   PROTESTANTISM  TO   CULTURE    AND 
CIVILIZATION. 

In  order  to  judge  rightly  of  the  tendencies  of  Protes- 
tantism in  relation  to  culture  and  civilization,  or  to  com- 
pare Protestantism,  in  this  respect,  with  the  Church  of 
Rome,  something  more  is  requisite  than  a  bare  enumera- 
tion of  historical  facts.  Facts  in  this  case  can  form  the 
basis  of  induction,  only  so  far  as  they  are  fairly  traceable 
to  the  intrinsic  character  of  the  respective  systems.  It  is 
the  genius  of  the  systems  respectively,  as  it  has  revealed 
itself  in  their  actual  operation,  which  we  have  to  investi- 
gate. 

Protestantism  and  the  Church  of  Rome  have  stood  face 
to  face,  now  for  more  than  three  hundred  years.  We 
can  look  at  the  history  and  at  the  condition  of  the  Prot- 
estant nations  and  of  the  Roman  Catholic  nations.  The 
immediate  impression  made  by  a  general  comparison  of 
this  sort  upon  a  candid  observer  is  difficult  to  be  resisted. 
What  this  impression  is,  may  be  stated  in  the  language 
of  two  modern  English  historians,  who  at  least  are 
warped  by  no  partisan  attachment  to  the  dogmatic  sys- 
tem of  the  Protestant  churches.  Macaulay,  while  con- 
ceding that  the  Church  of  Rome  conferred  great  benefits 
on  society  in  the  Middle  Ages,  by  instructing  the  igno- 
rant, by  curbing  the  passions  of  tyrannical  civil  rulers,  and 
by  affording  protection  to  their  subjects,  places  in  strong 
contrast  the  influence  of  the  Church  of  Rome  during  the 
last  three  centuries,  when  she  has  been  struggling  to  per- 


PROTESTANT  AND  CATHOLIC  NATIONS  COMPARED.  511 

petuate  a  sway  which  the  developed  intelligence  of  man- 
kind had  outgrown.  "The  loveliest  and  most  fertile 
provinces  of  Europe  have,  under  her  rule,  been  sunk  in 
poverty,  in  political  servitude,  and  in  intellectual  torpor, 
while  Protestant  countries,  once  proverbial  for  Bterility 
and  barbarism,  have  been  turned  by  skill  and  industry 
into  gardens,  and  can  boast  of  a  long  list  of  heroes  and 
statesmen,  philosophers  and  poets.  Whoever,  knowing 
what  Italy  and  Scotland  naturally  are,  and  what,  four 
hundred  years  ago,  they  actually  were,  shall  now  com- 
pare the  country  round  Rome  with  the  country  round 
Edinburgh,  will  be  able  to  form  some  judgment  as  t<>  the 
tendency  of  Papal  domination.  The  descent  of  Spain, 
once  the  first  among  monarchies,  to  the  lowest  depths  of 
degradation;  the  elevation  of  Holland,  in  spite  of  many 
natural  disadvantages,  to  a  position  such  as  no  common- 
wealth so  small  has  ever  reached,  teach  the  same  lesson. 
Whoever  passes  in  Germany  from  a  Roman  Catholic  to  a 
Protestant  principality,  in  Switzerland  from  a  Roman 
Catholic  to  a  Protestant  canton,  in  Ireland  from  a  Roman 
Catholic  to  a  Protestant  county,  finds  that  he  has  passed 
from  a  lower  to  a  higher  grade  of  civilization.  On  the 
other  side  of  the  Atlantic  the  same  law  prevails.  The 
Protestants  of  the  United  States  have  left  far  behind 
them  the  Roman  Catholics  of  Mexico,  Peru,  and  Brazil. 
The  Roman  Catholics  of  Lower  Canada  remain  inert, 
while  the  whole  continent  round  them  is  in  a  ferment 
with  Protestant  activity  and  enterprise.  The  French 
have  doubtless  shown  an  energy  and  an  intelligence 
which,  even  when  misdirected,  have  justly  entitled  them 
to  be  called  a  great  people.  But  this  apparenl  exception, 
when  examined,  will  be  found  to  confirm  the  rule  :  for  in 
no  country  that  is  called  Roman  Catholic  has  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church  during  several  generations,  possessed  bo 
little  authority  as  in  France."1     Carlyle,  in  his   quaint 

i  History  of  England  (Harpers'  ed.)>  '•  45. 


512   THE  RELATION  OF  PROTESTANTISM  TO  CIVILIZATION. 

and  vivid  manner,  thus  writes  of  the  peoples  who  threw 
off  their  allegiance  to  Rome,  in  contrast  with  those  which 
rejected  the  Reformation :  u  Once  risen  into  this  divine 
white  heat  of  temper,  were  it  only  for  a  season,  and  not 
again,  the  nation  is  thenceforth  considerable  through  all 
its  remaining  history.  What  immensities  of  dross  and 
cryptopoisonous  matter  will  it  not  burn  out  of  itself  in 
that  high  temperature  in  the  course  of  a  few  years  !  Wit- 
ness Cromwell  and  his  Puritans  making  England  habita- 
ble, even  under  the  Charles-Second  terms,  for  a  couple  of 
centimes  more.  Nations  are  benefited,  I  believe,  for 
ages,  for  being  thrown  once  into  divine  white  heat  in  this 
manner  ;  and  no  nation  that  has  not  had  such  divine  par- 
oxysms at  any  time  is  apt  to  come  to  much."  "  Austria, 
Spain,  Italy,  France,  Poland  —  the  offer  of  the  Reforma- 
tion was  made  everywhere,  and  it  is  curious  to  see  what 
has  become  of  the  nations  that  would  not  hear  it.  In  all 
countries  were  some  that  accepted ;  but  in  many  there 
were  not  enough,  and  the  rest,  slowly  or  swiftly,  with 
fatal,  difficult.industry,  contrived  to  burn  them  out.  Aus- 
tria was  once  full  of  Protestants,  but  the  hide-bound 
Flemish- Spanish  Kaiser-element  presiding  over  it,  obsti- 
nately for  two  centuries,  kept  saying,  '  No  ;  we,  with 
our  dull,  obstinate,  Cimburgis  under-lip,  and  lazy  eyes, 
with  our  ponderous  Austrian  depth  of  Habituality,  and 
indolence  of  Intellect,  we  prefer  steady  darkness  to  un- 
certain new  Light ! '  and  all  men  may  see  where  Austria 
now  is.  Spain  still  more  ;  poor  Spain  going  about  at  this 
time,  making  its  4  pronunciamentos.' ''  "  Italy  too  had 
its  Protestants  ;  but  Italy  killed  them  —  managed  to  ex- 
tinguish Protestantism.  Italy  put  up  with  practical  lies 
of  all  kinds,  and,  shrugging  its  shoulders,  preferred  going 
into  Dillettantism  and  the  Fine  Arts.  The  Italians,  in- 
stead of  the  sacred  service  of  Fact  and  Performance,  did 
Music,  Painting,  and  the  like,  till  even  that  has  become 
impossible  for  them  ;  and  no  noble  nation,  sunk  from  vir- 


INFLUENCE    OF   PROTESTANTISM    UPON    LIBERTY.        518 

tue  to  virtu,  ever  offered  such  a  spectacle  before."  "  But 
sharpest-cut  example  is  France,  to  which  we  constantly 
return  for  illustration.  France,  with  its  keen  intellect, 
saw  the  truth,  and  saw  the  falsity,  in  those  Protestant 
times,  and,  with  its  ardor  of  generous  impulse,  was  prone 
enough  to  adopt  the  former.  France  was  within  a  hair's- 
breadth  of  becoming  actually  Protestant;  but  France 
saw  good  to  massacre  Protestantism,  and  end  it  in  the 
night  of  St.  Bartholomew,  1572."  "  The  Genius  of  Fact 
and  Veracity  accordingly  withdrew,  was  staved  off,  got 
kept  away  for  two  hundred  years.  But  the  Writ  of  Sum- 
mons had  been  served ;  Heaven's  messenger  could  not 
stay  away  forever  ;  no,  he  returned  duly,  with  accounts 
run  up,  on  compound  interest,  to  the  actual  hour,  in 
1792 ;  and  then,  at  last,  there  had  to  be  a  '  Protestant- 
ism,' and  we  know  of  what  kind  that  was."  l 

Exception  may,  perhaps,  be  taken  to  some  particulars 
in  the  foregoing  extract ;  but  still  the  spectacle  of  the 
physical  power,  the  industry  and  thrift,  the  intelligence, 
good  government,  and  average  morality  of  the  Protes- 
tant nations,  is  in  the  highest  degree  significant  and  im- 
pressive. 

The  influence  of  Protestantism  upon  civil  and  religious 
liberty  is  one  point  of  importance  in  the  present  inquiry. 
Since  Protestantism  involves  an  assertion  of  the  rights  of 
the  individual  in  the  most  momentous  of  all  concerns,  we 
should  expect  that  its  effect  would  be  generally  favorable 
to  liberty.  In  considering  this  question,  it  is  proper  f<> 
glance  at  the  political  consequences  of  the  Reformation.1 

The  first  period  after  the  beginning  of  the  Reforma- 
tion (1517-1556)  is  marked  by  the  rivalry  of  Francis  I. 
and  Charles  V.  Neither  espoused  the  Protestant  cause  ; 
but  their  mutual  enmity  left  it  room  to  exist  and  to  de- 

1  Hist,  of  Frederick  the  Second  (Harpers'  cd.),  i-  202  Beq. 

2  Heeren,  Historical  Treatises,  Oxford,  1S-JG.    Thechronol  tgical  divisions  of 
Hecren  are  followed  above. 


514     THE  RELATION  OF  PROTESTANTISM  TO  CIVILIZATION. 

velop  its  strength.  Notwithstanding  the  religious  divis- 
ion, a  new  energy  and  vitality  were  infused  into  the  con- 
stituent parts  of  the  German  Empire.  The  second  pe- 
riod (1556-1603)  is  signalized  by  the  revolt  of  the  Neth- 
erlands. France,  a  kingdom  divided  against  itself,  was 
reduced  for  a  time  to  a  subordinate  position.  Spain  and 
England  were  now  the  contending  powers  ;  the  Protes- 
tant interest  in  Europe  being  led  by  Elizabeth,  and  the 
Catholic  interest  being  marshaled  under  Philip  II.  Eliz- 
abeth herself  was  jealous  of  her  prerogative  and  had  no 
love  for  popular  rights  ;  but  the  Protestant  party  was, 
nevertheless,  identified  with  the  cause  of  liberty,  and  the 
Roman  Catholic  party  with  political  absolutism.  She 
was  obliged,  for  her  own  safety,  to  give  aid  to  the  insur- 
gents in  the  Netherlands  and  in  Scotland.  During  her 
long  reign,  in  England  itself,  under  the  inspiring  influence 
of  Protestantism,  there  was  an  agitation  of  constitutional 
questions,  which  augured  well  for  the  future.  The  great 
Protestant  commercial  Republic  of  Holland  arose,  as  it 
were,  out  of  the  sea.  In  the  third  period  (1603-1648) 
France,  under  Henry  IV.,  for  a  while  regains  its  natural 
position  in  Europe,  but  loses  it  by  his  untimely  death. 
England,  on  the  contrary,  under  the  Stuarts,  with  their 
reactionary  ecclesiasticism  and  subserviency  to  Spain, 
sacrifices  in  great  part  her  political  influence.  It  is  the  era 
of  the  Thirty  Years'  War ;  at  first  a  civil  war  of  Austria 
against  Bohemia  ;  then  acquiring  wider  dimensions  by 
the  conquest  of  the  Palatinate ;  and  finally,  upon  the  re- 
newal of  the  contest  between  Spain  and  the  Netherlands 
in  1621,  interesting  all  Europe.  The  restored  coopera- 
tion and  religious  sympathy  of  Austria  and  Spain,  in- 
volved peril  not  only  for  Protestantism,  but  for  the  bal- 
ance of  power  in  Europe,  which  was  now  an  object  of 
pursuit.  France,  resuming  its  position  under  the  guid- 
ance of  Richelieu,  joined  hands  with  Sweden  in  lending 
support  to  the  German  Protestants.    Sweden,  by  the  part 


POLITICAL   EFFECTS   OF   THE  REFORMATION.  616 

which  it  took  in  this  great  war,  and  by  the  treaty  which 

followed  it,  acquired  a  political  standing  which  it  had  not 
before  possessed.  By  this  war,  the  northern  powers  were 
brought  into  connection  with  the  rest  of  Europe,  bo  that 
Europe,  for  the  first  time,  formed  one  political  Bystem.1 
The  Treaty  of  Westphalia  is  the  monument  of  this  event 
It  established  a  balance  of  power  and  terms  of  peace  be- 
tween the  religious  parties  in  Germany.  During  the 
fourth  period  (1648-1702),  Louis  XIV.  appears  as  the 
champion  of  absolutism,  and  William  III.  comes  forward 
as  the  leader  of  Protestantism  and  of  the  cause  of  liber- 
ty. Under  his  auspices,  constitutional  freedom  is  finally 
established  in  England.  Prussia,  which  began  its  politi- 
cal career  at  the  Reformation,  rose  in  importance  under 
"the  Great  Elector"  (1640-1688),  and  at  Length 
the  place  of  Sweden,  as  the  first  of  the  northern  pow- 
ers. It  was  in  the  seventeenth  century,  during  the  reigp 
of  the  Stuarts,  that  the  English  colonies  in  North  Amer- 
ica were  planted,  and  the  foundations  were  laid  for  the 
future  Republic  of  the  United  States.  Without  the  vic- 
tory of  constitutional  liberty  in  England,  and  without  the 
political  example  of  Holland,  the  North  American  Re- 
public could  not  have  arisen.  Among  the  political  effects 
of  the  Reformation,  must  be  reckoned  the  upbuilding  of 
Sweden  and  of  Prussia.  But  when  we  are  inquiring  into 
the  influence  of  Protestantism  upon  political  liberty,  it 
can  be  said  with  truth,  that  the  Reformation  made  the 
free  Netherlands;  the  Reformation  made  free  England, 
or  was  an  essential  agent  in  this  work  ;  the  Reformatio!) 
made  the  free  Republic  of  America.     "  Thegreatesl  part 

of  British  America,"  says  De  Tocqueville,  "  was  \ pled 

by  men  who,  after  having  shaken  off  the  authority  "I  the 
Pope,  acknowledged  no  other  religious  supremacy.     They 
brought  with  them  into  the  New  World  a  form  <>f  ( lnis-. 
tianity,  which  I  cannot  better  describe  than   by  Btyling  it 

i  Heercn,  p.  88. 


516     THE  RELATION  OF  PROTESTANTISM  TO  CIVILIZATION. 

a  democratic  and  republican  religion.  This  contributed 
powerfully  to  the  establishment  of  a  republic  and  a  de- 
mocracy in  public  affairs  ;  and  from  the  beginning,  pol- 
itics and  religion  contracted  an  alliance  which  has  never 
been  dissolved."1  The  town  system  and  the  "town 
spirit,"  in  which  this  sagacious  writer  recognizes  the  germ 
of  our  political  institutions,  stood  in  intimate  connection 
with  the  control  of  the  laity  in  Church  affairs,  and  with 
the  religious  polity  of  the  early  colonists.  It  is  true,  as 
this  same  writer  has  remarked,  that  the  Roman  Catholic 
system  is  not  unfriendly  to  democracy,  in  a  certain  sense 
of  the  term  ;  in  the  sense  of  an  equality  of  condition. 
But  this  equality  of  condition  is  the  result  of  a  common 
subjection  of  the  high  and  the  low  to  the  priesthood  ;  and 
it  is  attended,  therefore,  with  two  dangers :  first,  that  a 
habit  of  mind  will  be  formed,  which  is  unfavorable  to  per- 
sonal independence,  and  therefore  to  the  maintenance  of 
political  freedom ;  and  secondly,  that  the  ecclesiastical 
rulers  will  be  impelled  to  fortify  their  sway  by  an  alli- 
ance with  absolutism  in  the  State. 

In  opposition  to  the  claim  that  Protestantism  is  friendly 
to  religious  liberty,  an  appeal  is  sometimes  made  to  facts. 
It  is  said  that  the  history  of  Protestant  States  contains 
many  instances  of  religious  intolerance  and  persecution. 
This  must  be  conceded.  The  first  effect  of  the  Reforma- 
tion was  to  augment  the  power  of  princes.  The  clergy 
stood  in  an  altered  relation  to  the  civil  authority,  and 
were  deprived  of  a  shield  which  had  given  them  a  meas- 
ure of  protection  against  its  encroachments.  The  old 
idea  that  there  should  be,  in  a  political  community,  sub- 
stantial uniformity  in  the  profession  of  religion  and  in 
worship,  was  at  first  prevalent,  and  has  slowly  been  aban- 
doned. Catholic  has  been  persecuted  by  Protestant; 
among  Protestants,  Lutheran  has  been  persecuted  by 
Calvinist,  and  Calvinist  by  Lutheran  ;  Puritan  by  Church- 

1  Democracy  in  America,  i.  ch.  xvii. 


PROTESTANT  INTOLERANCE.  517 

man,  and  Churchman  by  Puritan.  Penal  laws  against 
Catholics,  or  against  the  exercise  of  Catholic  worship, 
have  existed  in  most-  Protestant  countries.  Much  can  be 
said  in  defense  of  such  enactments  at  the  time  of  the 
Catholic  Reaction,  when  Roman  Catholics  were  banded 
together  in  Europe  for  the  forcible  destruction  of  the 
Protestant  religion.  At  that  period,  the  Jesuit  order  in- 
stigated Catholic  rulers  in  different  countries  to  multi- 
plied acts  of  violence  against  their  Protestant  subjects. 
Moreover,  the  doctrine  was  preached  that  it  is  lawful  for 
subjects  to  revolt  against  heretical  sovereigns  and  to  de- 
throne them.  Protestant  rulers  might  naturally  appre- 
m  hend  danger  from  those  who  acknowledged  a  foreign  juris- 
diction, the  limits  of  which  were  not  defined,  but  which 
was  often  asserted  to  override  the  obligation  of  obedience 
to  the  civil  authority.  The  expulsion  of  the  Jesuits  from 
Catholic,  even  more  than  from  Protestant  countries, 
partly  on  political  grounds,  in  the  last  century,  is  not  to 
be  deemed  an  act  of  religious  persecution  ;  any  more  than 
the  entire  abolition  of  that  Order  by  Clement  XIV., 
in  1773.  It  must  not  be  forgotten,  however,  that  not 
unfrequently,  in  times  past,  penal  laws  against  Roman 
Catholics  or  their  worship  have  been  framed  on  other  than 
political  grounds.  The  fact  that  they  acknowledge  some 
other  authority  in  religion  than  the  Bible,  or  that  their 
rites  are  considered  idolatrous,  has  been  the  real  and  the 
avowed  reason  for  enactments  of  this  character.  Let  it 
be  observed,  however,  of  these  and  other  instances  <>t'  re- 
ligions intolerance,  which  stain  the  annals  of  Protestant- 
ism, that  even  by  the  concession  of  its  adversaries,  they 
are  incongruous  with  its  principles  and  with  its  true  spirit. 
What  is  the  charge  commonly  made  against  Protestants? 
That,  while  claiming  liberty  for  themselves  and  a  right 
of  private  judgment,  they  have  at  times  proved  them- 
selves ready  to  deny  these  privileges  to  Catholics  and  to 
one  another.     In  a  word,  they  are  charged  with  inconsis- 


518     THE  RELATION  OF  PROTESTANTISM  TO  CIVILIZATION. 

tency,  with  infidelity  to  their  own  theory.  The  charge 
is  equivalent  to  the  admission  that  the  genius  of  Protes- 
tantism is  adverse  to  intolerance  and  demands  liberty  of 
conscience.  If  this  be  true,  then  we  should  expect  that 
the  force  of  logic,  and  the  moral  spirit  inherent  in  the 
Protestant  system,  would  eventually  work  out  their  legit- 
imate results.  This  we  find  to  be  the  fact.  Among 
Protestant  nations  there  has  been  a  growing  sense  of  ob- 
ligation to  respect  conscience  and  to  abstain  from  the  use 
of  coercion  in  matters  of  religious  faith.  How  does  an 
enlightened  Protestant  look  upon  the  records  of  religious  < 
intolerance  in  the  past,  among  professed  disciples  of  the 
Reformation  ?  He  does  not  justify  acts  of  this  nature  ; 
he  reprobates  or  deplores  them.  He  acknowledges  that 
they  were  wrong  ;  that  deeds  of  this  kind,  if  done  now, 
would  deserve  abhorrence,  and  that  the  guilt  of  those 
who  were  concerned  in  them  is  only  mitigated  by  their 
comparative  ignorance.  This  prevalent  feeling  among 
Protestants  at  the  present  day  indicates  the  true  genius 
and  the  ultimate  operation  of  the  system.  Protestants 
abjure  the  principles  on  which  the  codes  of  intolerance 
were  framed.  How  is  it  with  their  opponents  ?  It  is 
true  that  thousands  of  Roman  Catholics  would  declare 
themselves  opposed  to  these  measures  which  the  Protes- 
tant condemns.  Their  humane  feelings  would  be  shocked 
at  a  proposition  to  revive  the  dungeon  and  the  fagot  as 
instruments  for  crushing  dogmatic  error  or  an  obnoxious 
ritual.  But  the  authorities  of  the  Church  of  Rome  do 
not  profess  any  compunction  for  the  employment  of  these 
instruments  of  coercion,  in  past  ages ;  nor  do  they  repu- 
diate the  principles  from  which  persecution  arose  and  on 
which  it  was  justified.  So  far  from  this,  one  of  the  pes- 
tilent errors  of  the  age,  which  is  thought  worthy  of  spe- 
cial denunciation  from  the  Chair  of  Peter,  is  the  doctrine 
of  liberty  of  conscience.1     The  massacre  of  St.  Bartholo- 

i  In  the  Encyclical  Letter  of  Pius  IX.  (December  8, 1864),  addressed  to  all  Ro- 


INFLUENCE  OF  PROTESTANTISM  UPON  LITERATURE.      519 

mew  and  the  fires  of  Smithfield  will  cease  to  !><■  justly 
chargeable  upon  the  Church  of  Rome  when  this  Church 
authoritatively  disavows  and  condemns  the  principle  of 
coercing  the  conscience  and  of  inflicting  penalties  upon 
what  is  judged  to  be  religious  error,  which  was  at  the 
bottom  of  these  and  of  a  long  catalogue  of  like  cruelties. 
If  the  true  tendency  of  Protestantism  has  evinced  it- 
self as  friendly  to  religious  and  civil  liberty,  the  Reforma- 
tion has  nevertheless  not  fostered  an  undue  license  and 
revolutionary  disorder.  The  modern  history  of  England 
and  of  the  United  States  exhibits  the  gradual  ami  whole- 
some growth  of  free  political  institutions.  With  compar- 
atively little  bloodshed,  English  liberty  went  through  the 
crisis  in  which  it  won  its  victory,  and  embodied  itself  in 
the  organic  law.  In  recent  times  it  is  the  Roman  ( !ath- 
olic  lands,  in  the  Old  World  and  in  the  New  —  France, 
Spain,  Italy,  Mexico,  the  South  American  States  —  which 
have  been  the  theatre  of  most  frequent  revolutions. 

We  turn  to  the  influence  which  the  Reformation  has 
exerted  upon  the  intellect,  or  its  relation  to  literature  and 
science.       Reference   is   frequently    made    by    polemical 

man  Catholic  bishops,  the  opinion  is  denounced  as  erroneous  and  most  pernicious, 
that  "liberty  of  conscience  and  of  worship  is  the  right  of  every  man  :  and  that 
this  right  ought,  in  every  well-governed  state,  to  be  proclaimed  ami  asserted 
by  law."  The  Encyclical  of  Pope  Gregory  XVI.  is  quoted,  in  which  this  opin- 
ion is  called  an  insanity  —  "  deliramentnm."  It  is  aiming  the  errors  which, 
Pius  IX.  declares,  are  to  be  abhorred,  shunned,  as  the  contagion  "f  a  pestilence. 
This  figure  of  a  contagion  or  a  plague  has  always  been  used  as  a  description  of 
heresy,  and  lay  at  the  foundation  of  the  treatment  of  heretics  :  \\  iih  the  differ- 
ence that  in  this  case  the  disease  was  held  to  be  guilty,  and  deserving  of  extreme 
penalties.  The  Syllabus  of  Pius  IX.,  connected  with  the  Encyclical 
condemns,  in  countries  where  the  Catholic  Church  is  the  established  faith,  the 
allowance  to  others  than  Catholics  to  "enjoy  the  publie  exercise  of  tle-ir..\vu 
worship."  The  Syllabus  (x.  79)  denounces  as  corrupting,  the  ..pinion  thai  civil 
liberty  should  be  granted  to  every  mode  of  worship,  and  that  there  Bhould  he 
freedom  of  speech  and  of  the  press,  with  regard  to  religion.  'I  I 
view  (Jan.  1872,  p.  2),  speaks  of  the  opposition  of  liberal  Cade. lies  to  what  is 
called  "  persecution  ;  i.  e.,  the  laws  enacted  and  enforci 
heresy,  during  the  ages  of  faith."  The  Review  adds:  "Nbwit  ia  undeniable 
that  for  the  existence  of  such  laws,  the  church  is  mainly  responsible." 


520   THE  RELATION  OF  PROTESTANTISM  TO  CIVILIZATION. 

writers  on  the  Catholic  side  to  complaints  which  Erasmus 
uttered,  especially  in  the  last  twelve  years  of  his  life, 
respecting  the  diminished  interest  in  literature,  which  he 
attributed  to  the  deleterious  agency  of  Protestantism. 
The  statements  of  Erasmus  at  that  time,  when  his  feel- 
ings were  embittered,  are  to  be  received  with  allowance. 
Yet  it  is  true  that  there  was  a  period  when  the  studies 
in  which  Erasmus  and  the  Humanists  took  special  de- 
light, were  regarded  with  a  less  lively  interest,  and  that 
this  may  be  set  down  as  an  effect  of  the  Lutheran  move- 
ment. It  is  the  ordinary  complaint  of  men  of  letters 
that  in  times  of  public  agitation  concerning  the  highest 
interests  of  mankind,  grammar  and  rhetoric  are  neglec- 
ted. Even  the  true  interests  of  learning  in  such  eras 
may  suffer  a  temporary  loss.  In  the  old  age  of  Erasmus, 
the  minds  of  men  were  intensely  absorbed  in  religious 
investigation  arid  controversy  ;  and,  as  a  natural  result, 
purely  literary  pursuits  were  for  a  while,  even  to  a  harm- 
ful degree,  eclipsed  by  other  and  more  exciting  studies. 

In  Spain,  Protestantism  was  trampled  out  and  the 
Catholic  system  had  unlimited  sway.  The  golden  age 
of  Spanish  literature,  when  the  most  celebrated  authors  — 
Cervantes,  Lope  de  Vega,  Calderon  —  flourished,  dates 
from  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century.  This  may 
seem  to  speak  well  for  the  ecclesiastical  system  to  which 
the  Spanish  people  were  subjected.  But  this,  if  it  was  the 
blossoming,  was  also  the  expiring  era  of  Spanish  letters. 
A  death-like  lethargy,  the  inevitable  result  of  superstition 
and  ecclesiastical  tyranny,  was  creeping  over  the  nation. 
This  decline  of  the  Spanish  intellect,  and  the  causes  which 
produced  it,  have  been  well  described  by  the  Historian  of 
Spanish  literature.  "  That  generous  and  manly  spirit," 
says  Ticknor,  "  which  is  the  breath  of  intellectual  life  to 
any  people,  was  restrained  and  stifled.  Some  departments 
of  literature,  such  as  forensic  eloquence  and  eloquence  of 
the  pulpit,  satirical  poetry,  and  elegant  didactic  prose, 


DECLINE   OF   THE   SPANISH   INTELLECT.  521 

hardly  appeared  at  all;  others,  like  epic  poetry,  were 
strangely  perverted  and  misdirected  ;  while  yet  others,  like 
the  drama,  the  ballads,  and  the  lighter  forms  of  lyrical 

verse,  seemed  to  grow  exuberant  and  lawless,  from  the 
very  restraints  imposed  on  the  rest ;  restraints  which  in 
fact  forced  poetical  genius  into  channels  where  it  would 
otherwise  have  flowed  much  more  scantily  and  with  much 
less  luxuriant  results."  Of  the  books  published  in  this 
period.  Ticknor  adds:  they  "bore  everywhere  marks  of 
the  subjection  to  which  the  press  and  those  who  wrote  for 
it  were  alike  reduced.  From  the  abject  title-pages  and 
dedications  of  the  authors  themselves,  through  the  crowd 
of  certificates  collected  from  their  friends  to  establish  the 
orthodoxy  of  works  that  were  often  as  little  connected 
with  religion  as  fairy  tales,  down  to  the  colophon,  sup- 
plicating pardon  for  any  unconscious  neglect  of  the  author- 
ity of  the  Church,  or  any  too  free  use  of  classical  mythol- 
ogy, we  are  continually  oppressed  with  painful  proofs, 
not  only  how  completely  the  human  mind  was  enslaved 
in  Spain,  but  how  grievously  it  had  become  cramped  and 
crippled  by  the  chains  it  had  so  long  worn."  l  These 
effects  were  not  due  solely  to  the  action  of  the  Inquisition 
or  of  the  despotic  civil  government,  but  to  that  supersti- 
tious habit  of  the  nation,  that  unique  mingling  of  relig- 
ion and  chivalrous  loyalty  to  the  king,  which  rendered 
this  whole  system  of  intellectual  tyranny  possible.  It 
was  this  perversion  of  natural  feeling  which  moved 
Lope  de  Vega  and  Cervantes  to  exult  when  six  hundred 
thousand  industrious  and  unofTending  Moors  were  driven 
out  of  their  native  country.2  The  same  stern  cens  « 
who  visited  with  death  the  least  taint  of  heresy,  tolerated 
a  drama  more  immoral  than  it  had  ever  been  1' 
The  willing  submission  of  the  people  to  the  yoke  of  the 
Inquisition  extinguished  the  last  remaining  sparks  of  inde 
pendence  and  of  intellectual  freedom.  As  we  app 
the  conclusion  of  the  seventeenth  century,  "the  In<iuisi- 

1  History  of  Spanish  Literature,  i.  470.  J  I'"'  l»,  p.  487. 


522   THE  RELATION  OF  PROTESTANTISM  TO  CULTURE. 

tion  and  the  despotism  seem  to  be  everywhere  present, 
and  to  have  cast  their  blight  over  everything."  ] 

The  history  of  the  Italian  people  had  been  of  such  a 
character,  that  a  degradation  like  that  which  befell  Spain, 
could  not  happen  to  Italy.  Yet,  from  the  middle  of  the 
sixteenth  century,  literature  declined,  and  the  intellectual 
vigor  of  the  nation  appeared  to  waste  away.2  The  de- 
struction of  republican  liberty  and  the  dreadful  calami- 
ties under  which  the  country  had  suffered  during  the  half 
century  which  followed  the  invasion  of  Charles  VIII. ,  are 
partly  responsible  for  this  result.  The  Spanish  dominion, 
which  was  extended  over  a  great  part  of  the  peninsula, 
was  fatal  to  all  free  and  manly  exertion.  But  the 
Church,  stimulated  by  the  spirit  of  the  Catholic  Reaction, 
contributed  directly  to  the  repression  of  that  mental  ac- 
tivity and  power,  which  had  made  Italy  the  pioneer  for 
other  nations  in  the  path  of  culture  and  learning.  In 
this  long  period,  extending  through  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury, only  one  great  name  —  that  of  Tasso,  who  pub- 
lished his  principal  work  in  1581  —  appears  ;  and  Tasso 
is  not  a  poet  of  the  first  order.  Art  revived,  for  a  time, 
in  the  school  of  the  Caracci ;  but  Art,  too,  had  passed  its 
meridian,  and  its  glory  was  .  departing.  The  writers  of 
the  seventeenth  century  are  called  by  the  Italians  the 
"  Seicentisti,"  a  term  which  carries  with  it  an  association 
of  inferiority.  In  this  period  there  abounded  what  the  Ital- 
ians aptly  name  dilettantism ;  an  indication  that  a  litera- 
ture has  entered  into  the  period  of  decay.  The  zeal  for 
classical  learning  had  grown  cold.  The  little  regard  felt 
even  for  perfection  of  literary  form  is  illustrated  by 
such  a  work  —  which  was,  one  of  the  principal  historical 
productions  of  the  time  —  as  the  Annals  of  Baronius.3 
Yet  in  two  directions  signs  of  a  fresh  intellectual  energy 

1  History  of  Spanish  Literature,  iii.  208. 

2  Sismondi,  Hist,  des  Republ.  Ital.,  xvi.  217  seq.     Hist,  of  Lit.  in  Southern 
Europe,  i.  ch.  xvi. 

8  Ranke,  History  of  the  Popes,  i.  496. 


PERSECUTION   IN   ITALY.  528 

appeared.  A  class  of  philosophers  arose,  who  renounced 
the  authority  of  Aristotle,  and  plunged  into  bold  specular 
tions  upon  the  nature  of  the  universe.  This  tendency 
was  checked  by  the  authorities  of  the  Church.  Giordano 
Bruno  was  carried  to  Rome  and  burned  at  the  Btake,  in 
1600.  There  was,  however,  a  curiosity  for  physical  re- 
search, which  kept  within  sober  limits,  and  promised  the 
best  fruits  to  science.  But  the  heavy  hand  of  the  [nqui- 
sition  was  laid  upon  these  attractive  studies.  The  \ 
cution  of  Galileo  did  not  crush  them  ;  they  continued  for 
a  long  time  to  be  the  chief  province  in  which  the  Italian 
mind  was  distinguished  ;  but  that  event  checked  and  dis- 
couraged them.  Galileo,  a  man  of  genius,  whose  emi- 
nence as  a  discoverer  in  science  had  been  well  earned,  was 
directed  by  Pope  Paul  V.,  in  1616,  through  Cardinal 
Bellarmine,  to  give  up  the  doctrine  of  the  earth's  motion 
round  the  sun,  to  teach  it  no  more,  and  to  write  do  more 
on  the  subject.1  At  the  same  time,  the  Congregation  ol 
the  Inquisition  declared  this  opinion  to  be  heretical.  Co- 
pernicus was  a  Roman  Catholic  and  had  dedicated  his 
book  to  Paul  III.;  but  orthodoxy  had  now  growu  more 
timid  and  jealous  of  scientific  researches.  For  fifteen 
years  Galileo  abstained  from  publishing  anything  further 
on  the  subject;  but  in  1632  he  put  forth  his  Dialogue 
relative  to  the  two  cosmical  systems  of  Ptolemaeus  and 
Copernicus;  having  previously  taken  the  precaution  to 
submit  it  to  ecclesiastical  censorship  at  Rome  and  at  Flor- 
ence. This  publication,  notwithstanding  the  former  in- 
junction laid  upon  him,  Mas  the  occasion  of  his  subse- 
quent troubles.  The  old  philosopher  was  obliged  to  repair 
to  Rome  and  answer  before  the  Tribunal  of  the   hiqui- 

i  A.  Von  Reumont,  Beitrage  z.  ital.  Geschichte,  i.  303   128 
Von  Reumont  is  a  learned  Catholic  Bcholar.     See,  also,  77 
Galileo  (London,    1870).      The  prohibition  of  Paul   V.  was:   "U1   npinionem, 
quod  sol  sit  centrum  mundi  et  immobilis,  et  terra  moveatur,  omnino  relinqoat, 
nee  earn  de  cetero  quovis  modo  teneat,  doceat,  aut  def endat  verbo  aut  script!*." 
Von  Reumont,  p.  317. 


524   THE  KELATION  OF  PROTESTANTISM  TO  CIVILIZATION. 

sition.  Pope  Urban  VIII.  insisted  that  the  obnoxious 
opinion  must  be  forbidden,  as  contrary  to  the  Scriptures.1 
The  explanations  of  Galileo,  that  he  did  not  intend  to 
violate  the  former  prohibition,  and  that  he  had  presented 
the  Copernican  doctrine  only  as  an  hypothesis,  were  of 
no  avail.  He  was  required  to  abjure  this  doctrine  on  his 
knees,  as  false,  and  was  sentenced  to  imprisonment  dur- 
ing the  Pope's  pleasure.  Although  he  was  not  shut  up 
in  a  cell,  but  was  permitted  to  reside  with  friends,  and  in 
his  own  villa,  he  was  still  subjected  to  uncomfortable  and 
humiliating  restrictions,  and  to  the  repeated  exercise  of 
an  annoying  surveillance.  His  aged  limbs  were  not 
stretched  upon  the  rack ;  but  there  was  a  moral  torture 
in  being  forced  to  deny  what  he  believed  to  be  the  truth. 
Of  the  deep  distress  which  this  inexorable  demand  occa- 
sioned him  we  have  ample  proof.  2  It  is  true  that  per- 
sonal enmities  —  the  hatred  of  Galileo's  scientific  enemies, 
the  feeling  of  the  Barberini  towards  the  Medici  —  had 
an  agency  in  the  proceedings  against  Galileo,  and  that 
the  Pope  imagined  himself  to  be  covertly  ridiculed  in  the 
condemned  Dialogue  ;  but  these  hostile  influences  would 
have  been  powerless,  had  not  a  prevailing  spirit  of  intol- 
erance been  ready  to  lend  itself  to  the  persecution.  Much 
is  said,  by  a  class  of  writers,  of  the  "  imprudence  "  of 
Galileo  in  attempting  to  harmonize  his  doctrine  with 
Scripture,  and  in  entering  at  all  into  the  province  of  exe- 
gesis. Bat  the  most  that  he  did  in  this  way,  was  to  af- 
firm that  the  Bible  accommodates  its  language  to  common 
notions  and  does  not  aim  to  teach  scientific  truth  ;  and 
his  explanations  of  Biblical  passages  were,  as  the  Inqui- 
sition, in  the  Act  of  Condemnation,  testifies,  in  answer  to 
objections  alleged  against  his  theory.3     He  must  not  sng- 

1  Von  Reumont,  p.  380. 

2  Von  Reumont,  p.  393.  Whewell  entirely  errs  in  what  he  says  of  the  mood 
of  Galileo  —  as  if  these  events  were  not  felt  by  him  to  be  serious.  History  of 
the  Inductive  Sciences,  i.  303  seq. 

8  "And  that,  to  the  objections  put  forth  to  thee  at  various  times,  based  on 


LITERATURE   IN   FRANCE.  525 

gest  a  different  interpretation  of  the  Scriptural  passages 
by  which  his   adversaries  were  permitted  to  confni 
opinion  !     The  crime  of  his  persecutors  is  not  extenuated, 
bat   aggravated,  if  their   accusation   is    reduced    to   this 
trivial  charge  of  imprudence. 

Of  all  the  countries  in  which  the  Reformation  failed, 
France  was  the  only  one  in  which  literature  was  not 
blighted.  In  France,  the  reign  of  Louis  XIV.  is  con- 
sidered the  Augustan  age  of  letters.  Three  elements  en- 
tered into  the  creation  of  this  brilliant  era  — the  monarchy, 
antiquity,  and  religion.1  The  splendor  of  the  throne,  the 
pride  awakened  by  the  conquests  of  the  King  and  by  the. 
apparent  power  of  France,  kindled  the  intellect  of  the 
nation.2  The  monarch  was  the  sun,  and  the  train  of  au- 
thors were  as  planets  moving  about  him,  and  basking  in 
his  rays.  Moreover,  the  classical  tone  of  the  Renaissance 
had  survived  in  full  power.  Most  of  the  literary  men 
looked  to  antiquity  for  their  models  and  rules  of  composi- 
tion. With  the  poets  and  critics,  the  unities  of  the  ancient 
drama  were  laws  to  be  sacredly  observed.  If  we  look  at  the 
religious  element,  we  see  the  deep  traces  of  the  Reformation 
in  the  Jansenist  school,  from  which  emanated  the  Provin- 
cial Letters  of  Pascal,  pronounced  by  Voltaire  the  finest 
specimen  of  French  prose  in  this  whole  period.  The  great 
figure  in  the  religious  world  is  Bossuet,  the  champion 
of  Gallican  against  ultramontane  Catholicism,  and  th>- 
author  of  the  most  liberal  and  the  least  obnoxious  expo- 
sition of  the  Catholic  creed.     The  comparative  freedom 

and  drawn  from  Holy  Scripture,  thou  didst  answer,  commenting  upon  and  ex- 
plaining the  said  Scripture  after  thy  own  fashion."  Life,  p.  200.  The 
of  Galileo  toCastelli  {Life,  p.  74)  expounds  in  a  very  Bensible  way  his  idea  '-f 
the  relation  of  the  Bible  to  science.  He  gave  great  offense  by  a  passage  in 
another  letter  in  which  he  said  that  he  had  heard  an  eminent  ecclesiastic— Car- 
dinal Haronius  was  the  person  meant  —  say  that  the  Holy  Ghost  had  designed 
to  show  us  how  to  get  to  heaven,  not  how  heaven  moves.  Von  Kemnont,  p. 
314.  But  the  sentence  of  the  Inquisition  condemns  the  Copernican  doctrine  aa 
"false  and  contrary  to  the  Holy  Scriptures." 

1  Villemain,  Lit.  an  Dix-huitieme  Suck,  i.  2. 

2  Nisard,  Hist,  de  la  Lit.  Frunr.,  i.  ch.  vii.  and  p.  4'30. 


526   THE  RELATION  OF  PROTESTANTISM  TO  CIVILIZATION. 

of  thought  that  remained  in  France  was  an  essential  con- 
dition of  its  literary  activity.  In  the  last  days  of  Louis 
XIV.,  literature  declined.  As  we  pass  beyond  his  reign, 
we  enter  the  era  in  which  a  sceptical  philosophy  prevailed, 
and  in  which  literature  was  divorced  not  only  from  the 
Church,  but  also  from  faith  in  the  Christian  Revelation. 

In  order  to  appreciate  the  influence  of  the  Church  of 
Rome,  after  the  Reformation,  upon  science  and  culture, 
it  is  necessary  to  take  into  view  the  systematic  censorship 
of  books,  which  that  Church  established,  and  the  literary 
and  educational  influence  of  the  Order  of  Jesuits.  In 
1546,  Charles  V.  obtained  from  the  theological  faculty  of 
Louvain  a  catalogue  of  publications  which  the  people 
were  to  be  prohibited  from  reading  ;  his  design  being  to 
stop  the  progress  of  heresy  in  the  Netherlands.  His  ex- 
ample was  followed  .by  Paul  IV.,  who  published,  in  1559, 
a  list  of  the  same  kind,  with  a  denunciation  of  penalties 
against  all  who  should  disregard  its  rigid  prohibitions. 
Under  the  auspices  of  the  Council  of  Trent,  there  was 
issued  by  the  authority  of  Pius  IV.,  in  1564,  another 
Prohibitory  Index,  which  has  since  been  frequently  pub- 
lished with  successive  enlargements.  The  Prohibitory 
Indexes  proscribe  authors  or  entire  works,  without  reser- 
vation ;  the  Expurgatory  Indexes,  whether  united  with 
these  or  not,  specify  passages  to  be  expunged  or  altered. 
The  Index  of  1564  contained  ten  stringent  rules  respect- 
ing forbidden  books,  and  the  inspection  of  printing-offices 
and  book-shops ;  to  which,  on  various  occasions,  other 
regulations  have  been  added. 

The  long  Prohibitory  Catalogue,  although  it  comprises 
many  of  the  principal  works  in  history,  general  literature, 
and  philosophy,  as  well  as  in  theology  and  morals,  which 
have  been  produced  in  modern  times,  conveys  no  ade- 
quate idea  of  the  power  of  such  a  tyrannical  super- 
vision   in   the   countries  where  it  was  carried   out  with 


THE   PKESS   IN    PROTESTANT    LANDS.  527 

rigor,  to  fetter  the  intellect  and  to  paralyze  Its  enei 
Milton  introduces  into  the  "  Areopagitica,"  a  reminis- 
cense  of  his  intercourse  with  the  Learned  men  of  Itaiv. 
who  "  did  nothing  but  bemoan  the  servile  condition  into 
which  learning  amongst  them  was  brought ;  that  this  wae 
it  which  had  damped  the  glory  of  Italian  wits  ;  that 
nothing  had  there  been  written  now,  these  many  pears, 
but  flattery  and  fustian.  There  it  was  that  I  found  and 
visited  the  famous  Galileo  grown  old,  a  prisoner  to  the 
Inquisition,  for  thinking  in  astronomy  otherwise  than  tin- 
Franciscan  and  Dominican  licensers  thought."2 

Violations  of  the  liberty  of  opinion  and  of  the  press 
are  not  exclusively  the  sins  of  Roman  Catholics.  In 
Protestant  countries,  after  the  Reformation,  the  supervis- 
ion of  the  printing  and  circulation  of  books,  devolved  on 
the  State.  A  teasing  and  meddlesome  censorship,  and 
sometimes  a  severe  penal  code,  were  established  by  vari- 
ous governments.  In  England,  in  the  reign  of  Elizabeth, 
printers  and  booksellers  were  restricted  by  rigorous  en- 
actments, and  the  importation  of  books  was  regulated  by 
proclamations  from  the  Council.  The  law  inflicted  penal- 
ties on  the  sale,  or  even  the  possession,  of  learned  works 
of    Catholic    theology.       In    some    cases,    libraries    were 

1  On  the  Index  Librorum  Prohibitorum  (1870),  are  the  names  "f  Buch  historian! 
as  Hallam,  Burnet,  Hume,  Gibbon,  Mbaheim,  Siamondi,  Bayle,  Prideaux, 
Botta,  Sarpi,  Kanke;  of  such  philosophical  writers  as  Blalebranche,  Spinoza, 
Kant,  Locke,  Bacon,  Des  Cartrs,  Whately,  Cousin  \  "f  publicists  like  Montes- 
quieu and  Grotius;  of  eminent  poets,  as  Ariosto  and  sfilton.  The  writings  of 
the  Reformers,  Protestant  versions  of  the  Bible,  all  Protestant  catechisms,  creeds, 
publications  of  synodal  acts,  of  conferences  and  of  disputations,  Liturgi 
dictionaries  and  lexicons  —  like  the  lexicon  of  Stephanus  —  unless  they  have 
been  previously  purged  of  heretical  passages,  arc  prohibited  ■ 

2  It  was  his  own  visit  to  Galilee  at  Areetri  that  suggested  t"  Mill  )0  the  com- 
parison of  the  shield  of  Lucifer  to 

"  the  moon,  whose  orb 

Through  optic  glass,  the  Tuscan  artist  views 
At  evening  from  the  top  of  Fesol6, 
Or  in  Valdarno,  to  descry  new  land-. 
Rivers  or  mountains,  in  her  spotty  globe." 


528   THE  RELATION  OF  PROTESTANTISM  TO  CIVILIZATION. 

searched,  and  books,  obnoxious  only  on  account  of  their 
doctrines,  were  seized.  Whitgift  caused  the  penal  rules 
on  this  whole  subject  to  be  sharpened,  and  exercised 
vigilance  in  enforcing  them.  One  of  the  charges  against 
Laud  at  his  impeachment,  in  1644,  was,  that  lie  had  sup- 
pressed the  Geneva  Bible,  and  other  books  in  which 
popery  was  attacked.  But  the  managers  of  the  impeach- 
ment coupled  with  this  charge  the  accusation  that  he  had 
permitted  to  be  introduced  and  sold  works  in  which  Ar- 
minian  and  Roman  Catholic  opinions  were  countenanced.1 
It  was  not  his  suppression  of  books,  but  of  a  particular 
class  of  books,  which  constituted  his  offense.  In  the  same 
year,  Milton  dedicated  to  Parliament  his  ringing  speech 
for  the  Liberty  of  Unlicensed  Printing,  the  "  Areopagit- 
ica,"  which  he  fitly  prefaced  by  lines  from  Euripides, 
beginning  :  — 

"This  is  true  liberty,  when  freeborn  men, 
Having  to  advise  the  public,  may  speak  free, 
Which  he  who  can,  and  will,  deserves  high  praise."  2 

But  even  Milton,  it  may  be  observed  here,  did  not  carry 
his  doctrine  of  liberty  of  conscience  so  far  as  to  lead 
him  to  favor  the  toleration  of  the  mass  and  other  cere- 
monies of  Roman  Catholic  worship,  which,  as  being 
idolatrous,  he  thought  should  be  forbidden.3  Parliament, 
in  the  Puritan  period,  passed  severe  ordinances  and  laws 
for  the  restraint  of  printing.4     But  the  Restoration  re- 

1  Neal,  History  of  the  Puritans,  ii.  515  seq. 

2  One  of  Milton's  arguments  is  that  "  the  infection,  which  is  from  books  of 
controversy  in  religion,"  is  more  dangerous  to  the  learned  than  to  the  ignorant; 
and  he  refers  to  the  acute  Anninius,  who  "was  perverted"  by  reading  "a 
nameless  discourse,  written  at  Delft."  It  is  curious  that  Milton,  as  his  treatise 
on  Christian  Doctrine  proves,  himself  became  an  Arminian,  and  an  Arian  be- 
sides. When  lie  published  "Paradise  Lost,"  in  1667,  he  had  some  difficulty  in 
procuring  a  license  ;  partly  on  account  of  the  illustration,  in  the  first  book,  of 
the  eclipse,  that 

"  with  fear  of  change 

Perplexes  monarchs." 
8  See  his  Tract,  Of  True  Relir/ion,  Heresy,  Schism,  Toleration,  etc.  (1G73). 
*  May,  Const.  History  of  England,  ii.  104. 


EDUCATION    BY   THE   JESUITS.  529 

newed  the  extreme  severity  of  the  old  enactments,  and 
the  Licensing  Act  placed  all  printing  under  the  control 
of  the  government.  Under  the  judges  Scroggs  and  Jef- 
fries, there  was  a  cruel  enforcement  of  the  hateful  pro- 
visions of  this  act.  It  was  not  until  after  the  Revolution, 
when  Parliament,  in  1695,  refused  to  renew  this  measure, 
that  the  censorship  of  the  press  was  given  up  by  the  law  of 
England.  There  might  be  continued  persecution,  through 
the  wide  extension  given  to  the  law  of  libel ;  but  there 
was  a  gradual  progress  towards  the  abolition  of  all  unjust 
restrictions  upon  the  publication  of  printed  matter.  The 
multiplying  of  newspapers  was  a  practical  assertion  of 
this  liberty.  Thus  it  appears  that  under  Protestant  in- 
stitutions, although  the  freedom  of  discussion  and  of  the 
press  was  not  at  once  attained,  although  tyrannical  laws 
were  framed  and  executed,  the  tendency  has  still  been  in 
the  direction  of  an  emancipation  of  the  minds  of  men 
from  this  as  from  other  kinds  of  unjustifiable  restraint. 
That  the  genius  of  Protestantism  requires  this  liberty,  is 
now  almost  universally  conceded. 

From  the  latter  part  of  the  sixteenth  century,  educa- 
tion in  Catholic  countries  fell  very  much  into  the  hands 
of  the  Jesuits.  Among  the  members  of  this  society,  and 
among  the  pupils  who  were  trained  by  it,  there  is  in- 
cluded a  long  list  of  men  who  are  distinguished  for  ser- 
vices rendered  to  science  and  learning.  But,  generally 
speaking,  it  is  in  mathematics,  physical  science,  and  anti- 
quarian research  —  departments  standing  in  no  close 
relation  to  their  moral  and  dogmatic  system  —  that  th<\ 
have  won  their  eminence.  The  Jesuit  Society  has  pro- 
duced acute  writers  in  casuistry  and  polemical  theology  ; 
such  men  as  Suarez  and  Bellarmine.  But  it  lias  accom- 
plished little  in  the  higher  walks  of  literature  and  philoso- 
phy, which  require  the  genial  atmosphere  of  freedom  : 
and  the  effect  of  its  training,  as  a  rule,  has  not  been  to 

34 


530   THE  RELATION   OF   PROTESTANTISM   TO   CIVILIZATION. 

stimulate  and  fructify  the  mind,  and  to  put  it  on  the  path 
of  original  activity  and  production. 

In  all  Protestant  lands,  the  universal  diffusion  of  the 
Bible  in  the  vernacular  tongues,  has  proved  an  instrument 
of  culture  of  inestimable  value.  Apart  from  its  direct 
religious  influence,  the  Bible  has  carried  into  the  house- 
holds, even  of  the  humblest  classes,  a  most  effective  means 
of  mental  stimulation  and  instruction.  By  its  history, 
poetry,  ethics,  theology,  it  has  expanded  the  intellect  of 
common  men,  and  roused  them  to  reflection  on  themes 
of  the  highest  moment.  The  scene  which  Burns  depicts 
in  "  The  Cotter's  Saturday  Night "  suggests  not  only  the 
religious  power  of  the  Bible  in  the  homes  of  the  poor,  but 
also  its  elevating  and  inspiring  influence  within  the  entire 
sphere  of  mental  action.  The  Church  of  Rome  has 
never,  by  a  general  prohibition,  interdicted  the  use  of  the 
Bible  to  the  laity ;  but  it  has  done  little  to  promote  it. 
On  the  contrary,  the  ten  Rules  relating  to  the  censorship 
of  books,  which  emanated  from  the  Council  of  Trent,  im- 
pose severe  restrictions  upon  the  circulation  and  reading 
of  the  Scriptures  in  the  vernacular  languages.  "  Inas- 
much," they  say,  "  as  it  is  manifest  from  experience,  that 
if  the  Holy  Bible,  translated  into  the  vulgar  tongue,  be 
indiscriminately  allowed  to  every  one,  the  temerity  of 
men  will  cause  more  evil  than  good  to  arise  from  it ;  it  is, 
on  this  point,  referred  to  the  judgment  of  the  bishops  or 
inquisitors,  who  may,  by  the  advice  of  the  priest  or  con- 
fessor, permit  the  reading  of  the  Bible,  translated  into 
the  vulgar  tongue  by  Catholic  authors,  to  those  persons 
whose  faith  and  piety,  they  apprehend,  will  be  augmented, 
and  not  injured  by  it ;  and  this  permission  they  must 
have  in  writing.  But  if  any  one  shall  have  the  presump- 
tion to  read  or  possess  it  without  such  written  permission, 
he  shall  not  receive  absolution  until  he  have  first  de-  ■ 
livered  up  such  Bible  to  the  ordinary.  Booksellers,  how- 
ever, who  shall  sell,  or  otherwise  dispose  of  Bibles  in  the 


INFLUENCE   OF   THE   BIBLE.  531 

vulgar  tongue,  to  persons  not  having  such  permi 
shall  forfeit  the  value  of  the  books,  to  be  applied  by  the 
bishop  to  some  pious  use;    and    be    subjected    to   Buch 
other  penalties  as  the  bishop  shall  judge  proper,  ac 
ing  to  the  quality  of  the  offense.     But  regulars  shall  nei- 
ther read  nor  purchase  such    Bibles   without    a    B] 
license  from  their  superiors." 1     This  rule  fairly  indicates 
the  policy  of  the  Church  of  Rome  since  the  Tridentine 
Council.     This  policy  had  its  origin  after  the  movements 
of  the  laity,  in  Romanic  countries,  in  the  twelfth  century, 
against  ecclesiastical  abuses,   when    the   Waldenses    and 
other  sects  resorted  to  the  Bible,  and  encouraged   the 
reading  of  it.     In  England  the  opposition   t<>  Wickliffe 
had  a  similar  effect  in  leading  the   authorities   of    the 
Church  to  discountenance  the   use  of   the    Bible   in   the 
vulgar  tongue.     The  Jansenists,   Arnauld  and  his 
ciates,  advocated  a  more  free  reading  of  the  Scriptures  by 
the  laity;  but  they  were  combated  on  this  point,  ; 
other  peculiarities  of  their  system.     Even/in  recent  times 
fulminations    have    been    sent   forth    from    the    Vatican 
against   Bible   societies;    and  this  hostility   is   aol    only 
directed   against  translations    made   by  Protestants,   but 
against  the  unrestricted  circulation  of  any  versions  in  the 
language  of  the  people.     Back  of  all  these  rules  and  pro- 
hibitions, however,  there  is  another  formidable  hindrance 
in  the  way  of  the  general  reading  of   the   Bible  among 
Roman  Catholic  laymen.    It  arises  from  the  doctrin 
they  are  incapable  of  interpreting  it.     In  the  earl] 
of  the  Church,  the  Scriptures  were  rendered  into  the  lan- 
guages of  the  tribes  to  whom    the   Gospel    was  carried. 
The  Fathers  were  not  opposed  to  the  reading  of  them  by 
the  people.    Even  as  late  as  Gregory  I.  they  recommend  it. 
But  the  practice  began  to  fall  into  disuse  in  consequence 
of  the  prevalent  belief  that  laymen  are  incompetent  I  >  un- 

i  App.  i.  ad  Concil.  Trid.  D>   Hbru prM.  Beg.  W.     Phfl  rule*  we  trans- 
lated by  Mendham,  The  Literary  PoUey  "/the  Church  of  fi 


532   THE   RELATION   OF   PROTESTANTISM   TO    CIVILIZATION. 

derstand  it  —  incapable  of  deciphering  its  meaning  for 
themselves.  Protestant  teachers,  on  the  contrary,  have 
declared  that  the  Bible  is  intelligible  to  plain  men,  and 
have  universally  inculcated  upon  all  the  obligation  to 
read  it  habitually.  The  English  version  and  the  transla- 
tion of  Luther  have  entered  into  the  intellectual  life  of 
the  nations  to  which  they  severally  belong,  with  an  ex- 
citing and  transforming  energy,  the  wholesome  effect  and 
full  extent  of  which  it  is  impossible  to  estimate.  To  say 
nothing  of  a  strictly  religious  influence,  if  we  could  sub- 
tract from  the  German  mind  the  effect,  regarded  only 
from  an  intellectual  point  of  view,  of  Luther's  Bible,  and 
do  the  same  in  the  case  of  our  version  in  its  relation  to  the 
English-speaking  race,  how  incalculable  would  be  the  loss  ! 
The  effect  of  the  Reformation  upon  literature  in  Eng- 
land is  generally  understood.  The  age  of  Elizabeth,  the 
era  of  Spenser  and  Raleigh,  of  Bacon  and  Shakespeare, 
was  the  period  in  which  the  ferment  caused  by  the  Ref- 
ormation was  at  its  height,  and  when  Protestantism 
established  its  supremacy  over  the  English  mind.  That 
Protestantism  was  a  life-giving  element  in  the  atmosphere 
in  which  the  eminent  authors  of  that  and  of  the  folio w- 
iiig  ages  drew  their  inspiration,  admits  of  no  reasonable 
doubt.  We  have  only  to  imagine  that  the  reign  of  Mary 
and  her  religious  system  had  continued  through  the  six- 
teenth century,  and  we  shall  appreciate  the  indispensable 
part  which  Protestantism  took  in  the  creation  of  that 
great  literary  epoch.  The  great  writers  of  the  Eliza- 
bethan period  have  been  called  "  men  of  the  Renaissance, 
not  men  of  the  Reformation." 1  A  brilliant  French  au- 
thor has  even  grouped  them  together  under  the  title  of 
the  "  Pagan  Renaissance."  2  It.  is  quite  true  that  they 
derived  their  materials  largely  from  the  poets  and  novel- 
ists of  Italy ;  that  the  influence  of  the  Italian  culture  is 

1  Matthew  Arnold,  Schools  and  Universities  on  the  Continent,  p.   154. 

2  Taine,  History  of  English  Literature,  i.  143  seq. 


LITERATURE   IN   ENGLAND.  533 

manifest  in  their  works.  From  this  point  of  view,  the 
classification  just  mentioned  is  not  so  incorrect.  More- 
over, the  English  writers  of  tiiis  grand  era  were  true  to 
themselves  ;  they  are  marked  by  a  fresh  vigor  and  genu- 
ine naturalness.  At  the  same  time,  their  veneration  for 
the  great  truths  of  religion,  their  profound,  unaffected 
faith,  are  equally  conspicuous;  and  by  this  quality  they 
are  distinguished  from  the  school  of  the  Renaissance  in 
Southern  Europe.  The  same  French  critic  to  whom  we 
have  referred,  adverts,  in  another  passage,  to  the  const  ant 
influence  of  "  the  grave  and  grand  idea  "  of  religion,  and 
adds:  "  In  the  greatest  prose  writers,  Bacon.  Burton,  Sir 
Thomas  Browne,  Raleigh,  we  see  the  fruits  of  veneration, 
a  settled  belief  in  the  obscure  beyond;  in  short,  faitli  and 
prayer.  Several  prayers  written  by  Bacon  are  amongst 
the  finest  known  ;  and  the  courtier  Raleigh,  whilst  writ- 
ing of  the  fall  of  empires,  and  how  the  barbarous  nations 
had  destroyed  this  grand  and  magnificent  Roman  Empire, 
ended  his  book  with  the  ideas  and  tone  of  a  Bossuet."  1 
It  is  not  more  true  that  Shakespeare  rises  above  all  the 
narrow  confines  of  sect,  than  that  his  dramas  reveal  a 
deep  faith  in  a  supernatural  order,  and  are  pervaded  with 
the  fundamental  verities  of  the  Christian  religion.  The 
boldness  and  independence  of  the  Elizabethan  writers, 
their  fearless  and  earnest  pursuit  of  truth,  and  their 
solemn  sense  of  religion,  apart  from  all  asceticism  and 
superstition,  are  among  the  effects  of  the  Reformation.9 
This  is  equally  true  of  them  as  it  is  of  Milton  and  of 
the  greatest  of  their  successors.  Nothing  save  the  im- 
pulse which  Protestantism  gave  to  the  English  mind,  and 
the  intellectual  ferment  which  was  engendered  by  it.  will 
account  for  the  literary  phenomena  of  the  Elizabethan 
times.  ■ 

i  i.  378.     The  passage  of  Raleigh  is  the  apostrophe,  beginning:    "O,  •!©- 

quent,  just,  and  mightie  Death!  " 

2  A  just  view  of  this  matter  is  presented  by  Hazlitt,  Lectureton  the  Dramatic 
Lit.  of  the  Age  of  Elizabeth  (leet.  i.),  where  the  influence  of  the  Information 
is  eloquently  traced. 


534  THE  RELATION   OF  PROTESTANTISM   TO   CIVILIZATION. 

The  Reformation  in  Germany  transferred  literary  ac- 
tivity from  the  South  to  the  North.1  Since  that  time, 
the  literary  achievements  on  the  Catholic  side  have  been, 
in  comparison  with  those  of  the  Protestants,  insignificant. 
A  learned  Catholic  scholar  has  stated  the  difficulty  which 
he  experienced  in  finding  Catholic  names  worthy  of  note, 
when  he  undertook  the  task  of  describing  the  state  of 
learning  in  Germany  in  the  period  after  the  Reformation.2 
He  attributes  this  intellectual  dearth  to  the  methods  of 
education  adopted  by  the  Jesuits,  who  obtained  so  exten- 
sive a  control  over  the  instruction  of  the  young.  In  the 
seventeenth  century,  theological  controversy  and  the  des- 
olating effects  of  war  prevented  Germany  from  emulating 
England  in  the  path  of  science  and  literature.  But  the 
eighteenth  century  opens  with  the  illustrious  name  of 
Leibnitz  ;  and  from  that  time,  especially  from  the  mid- 
dle of  that  century,  the  achievements  of  the  German 
mind  in  all  branches  of  human  knowledge  have  surpassed 
those  of  any  other  nation,  ancient  or  modern.  Germany 
has  earned  the  distinction  of  being  the  land  of  scholars. 
It  appears  that  in  England,  immediately  after  the  Refor- 
mation, the  cause  of  learning  suffered  in  consequence  of 
the  injury  done  to  schools  by  the  confiscations  of  Henry 
VIII.,  and  by  the  rapacity  of  his  courtiers  and  those  of 
Edward.3  The  attention  given  to  theological  disputes  in 
the  Universities  tended  for  a  while  to  the  same  result. 
In  Germany,  most  of  the  Protestant  leaders  were  devoted 
Humanists.  In  the  ferment  excited  at  first  by  the  Wit- 
tenberg Reform,  there  was  danger  that  science  and  edu- 
cation would  be  neglected ;  and  of  this  danger  Melanc- 
thon  was  painfully  sensible.4     He  made  schools  an  object 

1  Gervinus,  Gsch.  d.poetisch.  National-Lit.,  Th.  iii.  20. 

2  Dollinger,  Vortriye,  etc.  (Munich,  1872). 

3  Warton,  History  of  English  Poetry,  i.  §  xxxvi.;  Arnold,  Schools  and  Uni- 
versities, etc.,  p.  153. 

4  The  anxiety  of  Melancthon  on  this  subject,  a  few  years  after  the  Lutheran 
movement  commenced,  and  the  efforts  in  behalf  of  education  to  which  'he  was 
prompted,  are  described  by  Galle,  Charakteristik  Melcmcthons,  p.  119. 


PROTESTANTISM   IN   HOLLAND   AND   SCOTLAND.  535 

of  earnest  care.  For  his  services  in  this  direction  he  has 
worn  since  the  honorable  title  of  u  Preceptor  of  Ger- 
many." 

In  no  Protestant  countries  was  the  particular  effect  of 
the  Reformation  which  we  are  now  considering,  more 
striking,  than  in  Holland  and  in  Scotland.  Holland,  as 
it  emerged  victorious  from  its  struggle  witli  Spain,  be- 
came everywhere  famous  for  the  number  and  erudition 
of  its  scholars,  and  for  the  universal  intelligence  of  its 
people.  In  the  early  part  of  the  seventeenth  century, 
Leyden,  which  owed  its  University  to  the  victory  which 
it  gained  over  its  besiegers  in  1575,  was  the  most  re- 
nowned seat  of  learning  in  Western  Europe.  Two  thou- 
sand pupils  resorted  to  it  at  one  time,  and  scholars  like 
Scaliger  were  drawn  into  the  ranks  of  its  teachers.  In 
the  valor  of  its  inhabitants  and  their  culture,  in  connec- 
tion with  the  diminutive  size  of  its  territory,  Holland  re- 
sembled the  Greece  of  ancient  times.  Even  more  con- 
spicuous is  the  intellectual  influence  of  Protestantism 
upon  Scotland.  Holland  was  not  wanting  in  intellectual 
activity  before  the  Reformation;  but  Scotland  owes  al- 
most everything  to  the  religious  reform.  Before,  the 
mass  of  the  people  were  ignorant  and  in  a  state  of  -ci- 
vile dependence  on  the  nobles.  The  preaching  of  Knox 
struck  a  deep  root  in  the  heart  of  the  Scotch  commons. 
When  the  nobles  faltered,  or  consulted  expediency  or 
selfish  interest,  it  was  found  that  the  middling  and  lower 
orders  of  the  people,  who  had  embraced  the  Protestanl 
doctrine,  could  not  be  managed,  but  were  steadfast  in  de- 
fense of  their  liberty  and  religion.1  The  freedom  of 
Scotland,  its  general  intelligence,  and  the  literary  emi- 
nence which  a  great  array  of  distinguished  names  in 
science  and  letters  have  given  it,  are   the  result  of  the 

i  This  effect  of  the  Reformation  is  well  set  forth  by  Mr.  Fronde,  Bkori  6 
ore  Great  Subjects,  p.  128  (The  Influence  of  the  Reformation  on  the  Scottish 

Character). 


536   THE  RELATION   OF  PROTESTANTISM   TO  CIVILIZATION. 

Reformation.  The  minds  of  men  were  quickened  and 
invigorated  by  the  discussion  of  religious  questions.  An 
atmosphere  was  created  in  which  the  fruits  of  genius  and 
learning  have  appeared  in  abundance. 

The  peculiar  character  of  the  Reformation  is  manifest  in 
its  influence  on  philosophy.  The  Scholastic  theology  and 
ethics  were  intertwined  with  the  system  of  Aristotle. 
The  subversion  of  his  supremacy,  as  he  was  interpreted 
and  as  his  method  was  employed  by  the  Schoolmen,  in- 
volved the  overthrow  of  the  whole  fabric  which  they  had 
constructed  by  his  aid,  and  was  an  indispensable  means 
to  this  end.  This  philosophical  revolution  was  begun  by 
the  Humanists,  and  consummated  at  the  Reformation. 
By  the  indirect  effect  of  Protestantism,  there  arose 
another  philosophical  method,  on  the  foundation  of  which 
the  modern  schools  of  metaphysics  rest. 

The  path  was  broken  for  the  assault  upon  the  Scholas- 
tic Aristotle,  by  the  pure  Aristotelians,  as  they  were 
called ;  those  Italian  Humanists  in  the  first  half  of  the 
sixteenth  century,  who  set  up  the  ideas  which  they  pro- 
fessed to  derive  from  the  original  text  of  the  Stagirite, 
against  the  Scholastic  interpretations  of  him.  The  rise 
of  a  school  of  Platonists  was  not  without  an  influence  in 
the  same  direction.  The  Reformers  directly  assaulted 
the  principles  of  the  Aristotelian  ethics,  as  far  as  they 
were  embodied  in  the  Pelagian  theology,  and  likewise 
his  dialectical  method  as  underlying  the  endless  subtleties 
and  bewildering  casuistry  of  the  mediaeval  systems.  It 
is  a  mistake,  however,  to  suppose  that  Luther  was  abso- 
lutely hostile  to  philosophy.  His  declamation  against 
Aristotle  is  on  the  grounds  just  stated,  and  is  qualified 
by  other  expressions  of  a  different  tenor.1     Melancthon 

1  "I  would  willingly,"  he  said,  "  keep  Aristotle's  books  on  logic,  rhetoric, 
and  poetics,  or  have  them  abridged,  for  they  can  be  read  with  profit,  and  exer- 
cise young  people  in  speaking  and  preaching  well;  but  the  comments  and 
minute  divisions  had  better  be  left  off."  An  den  christl.  Add.  (1520.)  For 
other  passages  from  Luther,  of  a  like  tenor,  see  Gieseler,  I.  ii.  3,  §  48,  n.  5. 


EFFECT    OF    PROTESTANTISM    ON   PHILOSOPHY.  537 

was  more  and  more  impressed  with  the  necessity  of  a 
careful  and  thorough  training  for  ministers,  and  of  build- 
ing up  the  study  of  philosophy  as  well  as  of  classical  lit- 
erature in  the  German  schools.  Accordingly  he  prepared 
text-books  on  the  basis  of  the  treatises  of  Aristotle,  which 
long  held  their  place.  Among  the  Protestant  theologians, 
Aristotle,  in  the  shape  in  which  he  was  now  studied,  re- 
gained his  authority  ;  so  that  when  Peter  Ramus  attar];;-! 
his  logical  system  and  endeavored  to  supplant  it,  the  new 
scheme  was  considered  by  many,  among  whom  was  Beza, 
a  dangerous  innovation. 

The  ground  which  had  been  held  by  Aristotle  could 
not  be  left  unoccupied.  Philosophy  must  be  recon- 
structed. Yet  a  new  system  would  have  to  fight  its 
way  to  acceptance ;  for  Aristotle,  notwithstanding  the 
attacks  of  the  Humanists  and  of  the  Reformers,  still 
maintained  his  hold  in  the  Catholic  universities  —  in 
Paris,  for  example,  and  in  the  universities  of  Italy  ;  and 
was  defended  as  the  prop  of  orthodox  theology.  The 
two  renovators  of  philosophy  are  Bacon  and  Des  ( Jartes. 
The  systems  of  both  are  indirectly  the  product  of  the 
Reformation.  Bacon  is  not  the  originator  of  a  new 
method,  much  less  of  a  new  metaphysic  ;  but  in  his  vig- 
orous assault  upon  the  scientific  procedure  of  the  School- 
men, which  was  identified  with  the  name  of  Aristotle, 
and  in  his  weighty  appeal  against  the  authority  of  tradi- 
tion in  physical  study,  and  in  behalf  of  independent 
investigation  by  the  inductive  process,  he  harmonized 
with  the  spirit  and  evinced  the  influence  of  Protestant- 
ism. The  name  of  Des  Cartes  is  more  properly  con- 
nected with  the  new  method  which  characterizes  modern, 
as  distinguished  from  mediaeval  philosophy.1  In  the 
scholastic  period,  philosophy  was  subservient  to  theology. 
Philosophy  had  its  task  set ;  it  must  assume  the  truth  of 

i  Bouillier,  Hist,  de.  la  Philosophic  Cartesienne  (2  vols.  1854);  Baillet,  I.  I  Vic. 
de  Descartes  (2  vols.  1691):  Ritter,  Gsch.  d.  chrisU.  Phil.,  vii.  1  - 


538   THE  RELATION  OF  PROTESTANTISM  TO  CIVILIZATION. 

a  great  body  of  propositions,  and,  as  far  as  it  was  able, 
vindicate  them  on  rational  grounds.  As  a  consequence, 
philosophy  and  theology  were  mingled  together,  in  a  way 
prejudicial  to  each.  The  method  with  which  the  name 
of  Des  Cartes  is  linked  is  utterly  dissimilar  ;  first,  in 
separating  philosophy,  as  a  distinct  department,  from 
theology ;  secondly,  in  casting  out  all  assumptions,  all 
propositions  borrowed  from  other  sources,  all  authority, 
and  in  starting  with  the  mind's  own  primitive  intuitions, 
on  the  foundation  of  which,  with  the  aid  of  logic,  the 
whole  superstructure  is  reared.  The  simple  thesis,  "  I 
think,  therefore  I  am,"  is  found,  it  may  be,  in  Augustine  ; 
and  it  may  have  been  derived  from  him  ;  but  the  orig- 
inality of  Des  Cartes  lies  in  his  rejection  of  all  extraneous 
and  incongruous  matter,  and  in  his  placing  this  brief  but 
pregnant  affirmation  in  the  forefront  of  his  system.  On 
this  foundation  he  seeks  to  construct  a  proof  of  God, 
of  the  soul's  distinct  existence,  and  of  its  immortality. 
Philosophy  thus  takes  nothing  for  granted,  is  no  longer 
"  the  handmaid  "  of  any  other  branch  of  knowledge,  but 
brings  up  everything  to  be  tested  at  its  own  tribunal. 
Who  can  fail  to  detect  in  this  transformation  in  the 
character  and  position  of  philosophy  the  agency  of  the 
Reformation,  preceded  and  supported,  to  be  sure,  by 
Humanism  ? 

Des  Cartes  was  himself  a  Roman  Catholic  and  edu- 
cated in  a  Jesuit  school.  He  made  a  constant  effort  to 
avoid  every  sort  of  conflict  with  the  Church  and  with  the 
champions  of  orthodoxy.  Prudently,  for  the  sake  of  his 
own  quiet,  he  made  his  residence  in  Holland  and  in  Swe- 
den. He  carefully  disavowed  the  intention  to  interfere 
with  the  things  of  faith  ;  adopting,  in  this  matter,  lan- 
guage similar  to  that  of  Montaigne  and  his  followers  in 
the  sixteenth,  and  of  the  free-thinkers  of  the  eighteenth 
century.  In  their  case,  these  professions  were  ironical, 
and  were  made  for  the  sake  of  avoiding  an  explicit  an- 


DES   CARTES.  539 

tagonism  to  the  Christian  faith  and  its  adherents.     Des 
Cartes  was  more  serious  and  earnest  in  his  convictions  ; 
yet  the  course  that  he  took  was  quite  as  much  prompted 
by  deference  to   a  settled  policy  as  by  the   dictates   of 
conscience.     It  was  characteristic  of  him,  as  soon  as  he 
heard  of   the  condemnation  of    Galileo,  to  suppress  bis 
own  work  on  «  The  World,"  in  which  he  had  advocated 
the  Copernican  view,  and  which  was    prepared  for  the 
press.     But   all  the   wariness   and   painstaking   of   Des 
Cartes  did  not  avail.      The  empire  of  Scholasticism,  of 
which  the  Aristotelian  system  was  a  main  pillar,  cotdd 
not  be  so  easily  undermined.     The  Cartesian  system  was 
denounced   by  the    Sorbonne,  and   in  1624  a  decree  of 
Parliament  was  procured  against  it.     Its  principal  advo- 
cates were  the  gifted  men  of  the  Jansenist  school.      Pro- 
hibitions and  denunciations  of  the  new  philosophy  went 
forth  from  the  Council  of  the  King,  the  Archbishop  of 
Paris,  the  universities,  and  from  most  of   the  religious 
orders,  until  near  the  end  of  the  seventeenth  century.1 
The  Jesuits,  whom  Des  Cartes  had  tried  hard  to  conciliate, 
were  his  irreconcilable  opponents.     One  of  them,  Valois, 
in  the  presence  of  the  assembled  clergy  of  France,  de- 
nounced him  and  his  followers  as  favorers  of  Calvin.2     In 
1663,  his  "  Meditations,"  with  some  of  his  other  writings, 
were  placed  on  the  Prohibitory  Index  at  Rome,  "  donee 
corrigantur  ; "  and  there  his  name  still  stands,  with   the 
names  of  Locke,  Bacon,  Kant,  Cousin,  and  other  leaders 
in  philosophic  thought.     The   Sorbonne  made  a  second 
attempt  to  obtain  from  Parliament  a  condemnatory  de- 
cree against  the  Cartesian  system,  and  were  only  baffled 
by  the  wit  of  Boileau,  combined  with  the  reasoning  of 
Arnauld.3     After  this  time,  the  philosophy  of  Des  ( \i re- 
gained favor  with   the   more   free-minded   scholars   and 
authors — not  excepting  Bossuet — who  adorned  the  lit- 
erature of  France  in  this  period. 

i  Bouillier,  i.  454.  2  ibid.,  i.  469.  8  Ibi.l.,  i.  466  Beq. 


540   THE  RELATION  OF  PROTESTANTISM  TO  CIVILIZATION. 

It  would  be  interesting  to  trace  the  effect  of  the  Ref- 
ormation upon  the  development  of  other  branches  of 
knowledge.  The  advance  of  the  science  of  international 
law  in  modern  times  is  connected  with  the  name  of 
Grotius  ;  and  the  rise  of  political  economy  with  the 
names  of  Hume  and  of  Adam  Smith.  The  natural  and 
physical  sciences  owe  their  unexampled  progress  to  the 
freedom  with  which  their  investigations  are  prosecuted, 
and  to  the  method  of  independent  observation  and  ex- 
periment which  has  displaced  the  deductive  and  con- 
jectural procedure  of  a  former  age.  But  there  is  one 
department  with  regard  to  which  Protestantism  is  often 
charged  with  exerting  a  chilling  influence.  It  is  that  of 
the  fine  arts.  This  imputation,  however,  will  hardly  be 
made  respecting  music  and  poetry.  Nor,  since  the  cre- 
ation of  the  Gothic  architecture  —  a  genuine  product  of 
the  Middle  Ages  and  of  the  German  mind  —  is  there  any 
type  of  building  which  can  be  attributed  to  the  Church 
of  Rome,  as  an  offspring  of  its  peculiar  spirit.  It  is  only 
in  respect  to  painting  and  sculpture,  in  which  the  ideals 
of  Art  are  embodied  in  visible  form,  that  this  objection 
can  be  brought  against  Protestantism  with  any  plausi- 
bility. It  is  unquestionable  that  the  special  character  of 
Art  varies  with  the  nature  and  circumstances  of  the  peo- 
ples among  whom  it  springs  into  being.  It  is  also  true 
that  the  northern  races  of  the  German  stock  are,  on  the 
one  hand,  less  demonstrative,  less  impelled  by  an  inward 
impulse  to  give  visible  expression  to  their  conceptions, 
and  more  prone  to  abstract  thought  and  quiet  reflection, 
than  the  Latin  peoples,  especially  the  Italians.1  This 
innate  difference  is  not  without  its  effect  in  producing  in 
the  southern  races  a  greater  satisfaction  with  a  ritual  that 
strikes  the  senses  ;  and  this  same  peculiarity  is  associated 
with  an  artistic  impulse  and  skill.     Yet  these  are  not  the 

1  This  difference  is  portrayed  in  a  spirited  way  by  Taine.     See  Art  in  the 
Netherlands,  pp.  31  seq.,  64. 


EFFECT    OF   THE   REFORMATION   ON   RELIGION.  541 

exclusive  possession  of  any  single  branch  of  the  human 
family.  The  Teutonic  race  has,  likewise,  given  evidence 
of  its  capacity  for  the  highest  achievements  in  art,  as 
well  as  for  the  appreciation  and  enjoyment  of  its  noblest 
products.  Italian  painting  and  sculpture  were  the  cre- 
ation of  the  Renaissance  ;  and  the  Art  of  the  Renaissance 
was  largely  pagan.  With  the  revival  of  Catholicism  Art 
declined.  In  the  Netherlands  there  appeared  a  new  ami 
original  development  of  Art;  and  in  Holland,  with  its 
monotonous  scenery  and  cloudy  skies  —  a  country  in 
which  Protestantism  reigned  —  there  arose  a  school  of 
painters,  among  whom  is  found  one  of  the  most  original 
and  impressive  of  all  artists,  Rembrandt. 

The  most  important  topic  connected  with  the  present 
discussion  remains  to  be  considered.  It  is  the  bearing  of 
the  Reformation  on  religion.  Religion  is  essential  to 
the  permanence  and  progress  of  civilization,  not  only  as 
affording  motives  for  the  restraint  of  human  passions  and 
the  counteraction  of  selfishness,  but  as  indispensable  to 
the  healthful  and  fruitful  exertion  of  the  intellectual  fac- 
ulties. "When  the  religion  of  a  people  is  destroyed.*' 
writes  De  Tocqueville,  "doubt  gets  hold  of  the  higher 
powers  of  the  intellect,  and  half  paralyzes  all  the  others. 
Every  man  accustoms  himself  to  have  only  confused  and 
changing  notions  on  the  subjects  most  interesting  to  his 
fellow-creatures  and  himself."  "  Such  a  condition  cannol 
but  enervate  the  soul,  relax  the  springs  of  the  will,  and 
prepare  a  people  for  servitude."  "  I  am  inclined  to  think 
that  if  faith  be  wanting  in  man,  he  must  be  subject  ;  and 
if  he  be  free,  he  must  believe.1'1  It  is  not  strange  that 
the  right  which  Protestantism  gives  to  the  individual 
with  regard  to  his  religious  belief,  should  be  thought  by 
some  to  put  the  interests  of  religion  in  peril,  lint  this 
right  is,  in  another  aspect,  also  a  duty;  this  freedom  im- 
poses a  responsibility;  and  in  relegating  religion  more  to 

1  Democracy  in  America,  ii.  24. 


542      THE  RELATION  OF   PROTESTANTISM   TO   CULTURE. 

the  individual,  Protestantism  does  not  call  in  question 
the  validity  of  religious  feelings  and  obligations.,  Prot- 
estantism fosters  a  spirit  of  inquiry  ;  but  a  religion 
which,  like  Christianity,  relies  upon  persuasion,  and 
appeals  to  the  reason  and  conscience,  is  in  the  long  run 
profited  by  the  full  investigation  of  its  claims  and  doc- 
trines, whatever  temporary  evils  may  arise  from  the  per- 
verse or  superficial  application  of  the  understanding  to 
questions  in  the  solution  of  which  moral  and  religious 
feeling  must  bear  a  part.  A  brief  historical  review  will 
show  that  the  Reformation  is  not  responsible  for  tenden- 
cies to  scepticism  and  unbelief  which  have  revealed 
themselves  in  modern  society.  These  tendencies  dis- 
covered themselves  before  Protestantism  appeared.  The 
Renaissance  in  Italy  was  sceptical  in  its  spirit.  Pompo- 
natius  expressed  the  opinion  that  Christianity,  like  other 
religions  which  had  preceded  it,  had  passed  through  the 
periods  of  youth  and  maturity  and  had  arrived  at  the 
stage  of  obsolescence  and  decay.  Marsilius  Ficinus  saw 
no  help  for  religion  for  the  time  and  until  God  should 
appear  by  some  miraculous  manifestation,  save  in  the 
bolstering  aid  of  philosophy  and  from  the  tenets  of  Pla- 
tonism.1  This  infidelity  sprang  up  in  the  bosom  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church,  partly  as  a  reaction  against 
superstitious  doctrines  and  practices  which  the  Church 
countenanced,  partly  from  the  Epicurean  lives  of  ecclesi- 
astics and  the  worldliness  which  had  corrupted  the  piety 
of  the  official  guardians  of  religion.  Independently  of 
these  negative  influences,  however,  there  had  come  a 
time  when  reason,  conscious  of  itself  and  of  its  mature 
strength,  rose  up  to  scrutinize  the  traditions  which  it  had 
accepted  without  a  question,  and  to  test  the  foundations 
on  which  faith  had  rested.  Such  an  epoch  occurs  in  the 
history  of  other  religions.  Had  practical  religion  existed 
in  greater  power,  this  natural  crisis  and  period  of  transi 

1  Neander,   Wissemchaftl.  Abhandl.  p.  219. 


SCEPTICISM  IN  EUROPE,  543 

fcion  might  have  been  safely  passed,  and  the  result  won!. I 
have  been  at  once  a  more  enlightened  and  a  more  assured 
faith.  Protestantism,  with  the  warm  religious  life  which 
attended  its  rise,  did  actually  interpose  an  effectual  bar- 
rier to  the  spread  of  infidelity,  and  for  the  time  smoth- 
ered its  germs.  But  the  latent  tendencies  to  which  we 
have  adverted  re-appeared,  and,  after  the  tide  of  religious 
earnestness  in  which  the  Reformation  began  had  suit- 
sided;  after  practical  religion  was  lost,  in  a  measure,  in 
the  turmoil  of  theological  controversy,  and  by  the  de- 
moralizing effect  of  long  and  sanguinary  wars,  these 
tendencies  had  full  play.  Moreover,  Protestant  ism  was 
guilty  of  a  degree  of  unfaithfulness  to  one  of  its  own  car- 
dinal principles.  The  rigid  enforcement  of  dogmatic 
conformity,  in  connection  with  punctilious  tests  of  ortho- 
dox}', within  the  several  Protestant  communions,  was  felt 
to  be  at  variance  with  the  Protestant  principle  of  liberty. 
Among  the  adherents  of  the  Reformation  a  new  scholas- 
ticism arose.  A  new  yoke  was  imposed,  hardly  less  oner- 
ous than  that  which  the  Reformation  had  cast  off.  Hence 
there  ensued  a  revolt,  an  extensive  reaction,  in  behalf  of 
this  negative  principle  of  opposition  to  human  authority 
in  religious  concerns.  Such  a  reaction,  in  the  absence  of 
an  adequate  check,  was  pushed  to  an  extreme  ;  so  that 
the  positive,  or  religious  element  of  Protestantism  was 
sacrificed.  The  cause  of  liberty  of  thought  became  iden- 
tified with  doubt  or  disbelief.  Modern  unbelief  first 
took  the  form  of  Deism,  which  spread  in  Europe  until  it 
became  the  fashionable  religion  of  the  eighteenth  a  n- 
tury.  In  England,  the  wearisome  conflict  of  theological 
parties  impelled  some  to  explore  for  a  fundamental  re- 
ligion underlying  these  differences,  for  a  creed  which  was 
held  by  all  in  common.  This  contributed  fco  the  rise  of 
Free-thinking,  or  Deism,  of  which  Lord  Herbert  of 
Cherbury  was  the  first  advocate  of  distinction.  It  found 
the  most  congenial   home  in    France,  whence  it    spread 


544   THE  RELATION  OF  PROTESTANTISM  TO  CIVILIZATION. 

among  other  nations,  which  then  looked  to  France  for 
their  opinions  as  well  as  their  manners  and  fashions. 
The  creed  of  Deism  was  an  heirloom  from  Christianity. 
The  sense  of  the  supernatural,  weakened  though  it  was, 
still  sustained  the  belief  in  a  personal  God,  however  he 
might  be  set  a  distance  from  men.  Pantheism  was  a  sec- 
ond legitimate  step  in  the  same  path.  It  is  the  denial  of 
the  supernatural  altogether  ;  it  merges  the  Creator  in  the 
creation,  or  rather  in  nature,  which  is  considered  the 
manifestation  of  an  impersonal  force  or  law.  These 
types  of  unbelief  affected  the  Catholic  and  Protestant 
nations  alike.  But  France,  Catholic  France,  was  the 
principal  centre  of  scepticism  in  the  last  century.  Even 
in  the  reign  of  Louis  XIV.,  Mersenne,  the  friend  of  Des 
Cartes,  said  that  there  were  fifty  thousand  Atheists  in 
Paris.  It  was  doubtless  an  exaggerated  statement ;  yet 
the  number  of  the  neutral  class,  which  accepted  neither 
Catholicism  nor  Protestantism,  was  large  ;  and  this  class 
either  denied  or  doubted  the  truth  of  Revelation.1  Deism, 
and  finally  Materialism  and  Atheism,  became  the  creed  of 
the  philosophers  and  of  the  educated  class.  When  the 
great  Revolution  burst  forth,  there  was  no  principle  of 
religion  in  the  hearts  of  the  people  to  chasten  and  direct 
the  passions  which  had  been  excited  to  fury  by  a  long 
course  of  misgovernment  and  oppression.  The  persecu- 
tion of  the  Jansenists  and  the  expulsion  of  the  Huguenots, 
had  deprived  France  of  a  moral  force  which  might  have 
saved  it  from  unspeakable  calamities.  At  the  present 
day  the  religious  scepticism  of  the  educated  classes  in 
Italy,  Spain,  and  France  is  a  notorious  fact.  History 
demonstrates  that  the  principle  of  authority,  as  it  is 
maintained  by  the  Church  of  Rome,  constitutes  no  safe- 
guard against  infidelity  and  irreligion.     On  the  contrary, 

1  Sainte  Beuve  says  of  the  reign  of  Louis  XIV.,  that  it  was  "  rained "  by 
infidelity:  "  Le  regne  de  Louis  XIV.  en  est  comme  mine\"  Port  Royal,  iii.  237. 
Bayle's  Dictionary  appeared  in  1697;  and  this  may  be  considered  a  landmark 
in  the  development  of  scepticism. 


GERMAN   RATIONALISM.  545 

the  attempt  to  exert  an  undue  control  over  reason  and 
conscience,  tends  to  awaken  a  spirit  of  rebellion,  which  is 
liable  not  only  to  reject  the  yoke  that  is  sought  to  be  im- 
posed, but  with  it,  also,  the  verities  of  religion.  The 
spectacle  of  superstitious  beliefs  and  customs,  retained  in 
an  enlightened  era,  has  a  like  effect.  Neither  Protes- 
tantism nor  Catholicism  can  afford  an  absolute  guarantee 
against  the  incoming  and  spread  of  unbelief.  But  as  far 
as  phenomena  of  this  sort  can  be  traced  to  Protestantism, 
it  is  to  a  Protestantism  which  is  disloyal  to  its  own  prin- 
ciples. Experience  proves  that  coercion  is  not  adapted 
to  procure  conviction.  No  sounder  wisdom,  respecting 
the  treatment  of  dissent,  has  ever  been  discovered  than 
that  of  Gamaliel:  "  Refrain  from  these  men  and  let  them 
alone  ;  for  if  this  counsel  or  this  work  be  of  men,  it  will 
come  to  nought." 

German  Rationalism  has  assumed  two  forms,  a  critical 
and  a  philosophical.  On  the  one  hand,  in  a  movement 
that  began  with  the  Arminian  scholars  of  Holland,  but 
which  dates  in  Germany  from  the  theologian  Semler, 
there  has  appeared  an  activity  in  Biblical  and  historical 
criticism  without  a  parallel.  Inquiries  of  this  nature, 
which  have  to  do  with  the  origin  of  the  several  books  of 
the  Bible,  their  date  and  authorship,  and  their  true  in- 
terpretation, with  the  history  of  the  canon,  and  with  the 
nature  of  Inspiration,  and  of  the  authority  conferred  by 
it,  are  consonant  with  the  spirit  of  Protestantism,  and  are 
even  required  by  its  principles.  Ecclesiastical  tradition 
cannot  be  blindly  accepted,  but  must  be  subjected  to  ex- 
amination. Luther  set  the  example  of  such  criticism  in  the 
judgments  —  whatever  exceptions  maybe  justly  taken  to 
their  soundness  —  which  he  passed  upon  canonical  books, 
and  in  his  comments  upon  various  portions  of  Scripture  ; 
although,  at  the  same  time,  his  mind  was  Imbued  with  the 
deepest  reverence  for  the  Word  of  God.  The  investiga- 
tions of  German  scholarship  for  the  last  century,  what 

35 


546   THE  RELATION   OF  PROTESTANTISM   TO   CIVILIZATION. 

amount  of  error  and  groundless  hypothesis  may  have  been 
incidental  to  them,  have  added  vastly  to  our  knowledge 
of  the  Bible  and  of  Christian  antiquity.  In  the  philo- 
sophical direction,  Rationalism  was  at  first  Deistic  ;  it 
adopted  for  its  creed  the  three  facts  of  God,  free-will,  and 
immortality,  which  Kant  derived  from  the  practical  rea- 
son. In  the  successors  of  Kant,  the  influence  of  Spinoza 
was  mingled  with  that  of  the  philosopher  of  Konigsberg. 
Pantheistic  speculation  supplanted  Deism,  and  gave  rise 
t,o  a  new  phase  in  Biblical  and  historical  criticism.  Eich- 
horn  and  Paulus  were  succeeded  by  Strauss  and  Baur. 
In  the  field  of  philosophy,  the  school  of  materialism  has 
also  had  its  adherents.  It  is  far  from  being  true  that 
German  science  has  been  uniformly  allied  to  scepticism 
and  unbelief.  In  Schleiermacher,  deep  religious  feeling 
appeared  in  union  with  the  highest  degree  of  critical  and 
philosophical  acumen.  He  communicated  an  impulse  to 
many  who  dissent  from  his  opinions.  Through  him  there 
has  arisen  a  great  body  of  scholars,  who  respect  the  claims 
both  of  science  and  of  the  Christian  faith,  and  have  un- 
dertaken, in  a  free  and  unbiased  spirit,  which  Protestant- 
ism demands,  to  explore  the  past  and  to  investigate  the 
documents  of  the  Christian  faith,  at  the  same  time  that 
they  have  recognized  the  indestructible  foundations  of 
religion,  which  are  laid  in  the  intuitions  and  necessities  of 
the  soul,  and  in  the  facts  of  history.  The  origin  of  Ra- 
tionalism, and  its  relation  to  the  Reformation,  have  been 
thus  described  by  Neander :  "  The  first  living  develop- 
ment of  Protestantism  was  succeeded,  in  the  sixteenth 
and  seventeenth  centuries,  by  a  stagnation.  The  Catholic 
Church  lay  benumbed  in  its  external  ecclesiasticism  ;  the 
Protestant  in  its  one-sided  engrossment  in  doctrinal  ab- 
stractions. Since  the  ruling  form  of  doctrine  was  stiffly 
held,  in  opposition  to  all  free  development,  such  as  the 
principle  of  Protestantism  demands,  reactions  of  this 
original  principle  were  called  forth  in  the  Lutheran  and 


THE   MULTIPLYING   OF   SECTS.  547 

Reformed  Churches.  This  reactionary  tendency,  in  idle 
form  of  an  emancipation  from  a  dogmatic  yoke,  was  cur- 
ried, in  the  eighteenth  century,  far  beyond  its  original 
aim.  The  reformatory  movement,  being  negative,  be- 
came revolutionary.  With  this  there  was  connected  a 
new  epoch  in  the  general  progress  of  nations.  The 
culture  which  had  grown  up  under  the  rule  of  the  (  hurch, 
sought  to  make  itself  independent.  Reason,  striving  after 
emancipation  from  the  thraldom  in  which  it  had  been 
held  by  the  despotical  power  of  the  Church,  revolted  ; 
and  Christian  doctrine  was  obliged  to  enter  into  a  new 
conflict  with  this  opposing  element;  but,  inasmuch  as 
Christian  doctrine  was  possessed  of  a  more  powerful 
principle,  it  could  successfully  withstand  the  danger. 
The  conflict  served  to  purify  it  from  the  disturbing  ad- 
mixture of  human  elements,  and  to  brine:  to  view  the 
harmony  of  everything  purely  human  with  that  which 
is  divine.  Thus  there  arose,  especially  in  Germany,  a 
period,  which  began  with  Sender,  of  the  breaking  up  of 
previous  beliefs  ;  but  this  critical  process  was  a  sifting  and 
a  preparation  for  a  new  creation,  which  emanated  pre- 
dominantly from  Schleiermacher.  This,  also,  could  de- 
velop itself  only  in  a  renewed  conflict  with  Rationalism  : 
and  in  this  conflict  we  at  the  present  time  are  engaged." ' [ 
The  multiplying  of  sects  under  Protestantism  has  fre- 
quently formed  the  matter  of  a  grave  objection  to  it.  In 
the  first  generation  of  the  Reformers,  tin;  hope  of  a  res- 
toration of  ecclesiastical  unity,  by  means  of  a  general 
council,  was  not  given  up.  For  a  considerable  period, 
Protestants  aimed  to  reform  the  national  churches,  with 
the  aim  and  expectation  of  preserving  their  integrity. 
The  design  was  to  abolish  abuses  and  to  reconstitute  the 
creed,  polity,  and  ritual,  in  conformity  with  their  own 
ideas.  But  in  some  countries  —  in  France,  for  example 
—  they  found  themselves  in  a  minority,  and  unable  to  ao- 

1  Dogmengeschichte,  i.  23,  24. 


548   THE  RELATION   OF  PROTESTANTISM   TO   CIVILIZATION. 

complish  their  end.  Liberty  for  them  to  exist,  and  mu- 
tual toleration  between  the  two  great  divisions  of  the 
sundered  Church,  was  the  most  that  could  be  hoped  for. 
But  in  Protestant  countries,  divisions  arose  which  proved 
irreconcilable.  Thus  in  England,  the  difference  as  to 
the  form  which  the  Reformation  ought  to  take,  separated 
Protestants  into  two  opposing  camps.  Then  other  parties 
appeared,  who  were  convinced  of  the  unrighteousness  or 
impolicy  of  establishments,  whatever  might  be  the  ec- 
clesiastical system  which  it  was  proposed  to  render 
national  by  a  connection  with  the  State.  Sects  have 
multiplied  in  Protestant  countries  in  a  manner  which  the 
early  Reformers  did  not  anticipate.  On  this  subject  of 
denominational  or  sectarian  divisions,  it  may  be  said  with 
truth,  that  disunion  of  this  sort  is  better  than  a  leaden 
uniformity,  the  effect  of  blind  obedience  to  ecclesiastical 
superiors,  of  the  stagnation  of  religious  thought,  or  of  coer- 
cion. Disagreement  in  opinion  is  a  penalty  of  intellect- 
ual activity,  to  which  it  is  well  to  submit  where  the 
alternative  is  either  of  the  evils  just  mentioned.  It  may 
also  be  said  with  truth,  that  within  the  pale  of  the 
Church  of  Rome  there  have  been  conflicts  of  parties  and 
a  wrangling  of  disputants,  which  are  scarcely  less  con- 
spicuous than  the  like  phenomena  on  the  Protestant  side. 
The  vehement  and  prolonged  warfare  of  dogmatic  schools 
and  of  religious  orders,  of  Scotists  and  Thomists,  of  Jan- 
senists  and  Jesuits,  of  Dominicans  and  Molinists,  make 
the  annals  of  Catholicism  resound  with  the  din  of  contro- 
versy. That  these  debates,  often  pushed  to  the  point  of 
angry  contention,  have  been  prejudicial  to  the  interests 
of  Christian  piety,  will  not  be  questioned.  At  the  same 
time,  it  must  be  conceded  that  the  Protestant  faith  has 
been  weakened  within  Protestant  lands,  and  in  the  pres- 
ence of  Roman  Catholics,  and  of  the  heathen  nations,  by 
the  manifestations  of  a  sectarian  spirit,  and  by  the  very 
existence  of  so  many  diverse,  and  often  antagonistic,  de- 


THE   SECTARIAN   SPIRIT.  549 

nominations.  The  first  great  conflict  between  the  Luther- 
ans and  the  Zwinglians,  operated  fco  retard  the  progress 
of  the  Reformation.  The  impression  was  made,  espe- 
cially upon  timid  and  cautious  minds,  that  no  certainty 
with  regard  to  religious  truth  could  be  attained,  if  the 
authority  of  the  Church  of  Rome  were  discarded.  As 
other  divisions  followed,  and  in  some  cases,  on  minor 
questions  of  doctrine,  which  yet  were  made  the  occasion 
of  new  ecclesiastical  organizations,  this  argument  of  the 
adversaries  of  Protestantism  was  urged  with  an  increased 
effect.  The  "  variations  of  Protestants  "  were  depicted 
in  such  a  way  as  to  inspire  the  feeling,  that  to  renounce 
the  old  Church  was  to  embark  on  a  tempestuous  sea,  with 
no  star  to  guide  one's  path.  When  we  consider,  from  a 
historic  point  of  view,  the  sectarian  divisions  of  Protes- 
tantism, we  find  that  they  arose  generally  from  the  spirit 
of  intolerance,  and  the  spirit  of  faction  ;  two  tempers  of 
feeling  which  have  an  identical  root,  since  both  grow  out 
of  a  disposition  to  push  to  an  extreme,  even  to  the  point 
of  exclusion  and  separation,  religious  opinions  which  may 
be  the  property  of  an  individual  or  of  a  class,  but  are  not 
fundamental  to  the  Christian  faith.  Protestants,  having 
rejected  the  external  criteria  of  a  true  Church,  on  which 
Roman  Catholics  insist,  have  sometimes  hastily  inferred 
a  moral  right  on  the  part  of  any  number  of  Christians 
to  found  new  Church  associations  at  their  pleasure  This 
has  actually  been  done,  with  little  insight  into  the  d< 
of  the  visible  Church  and  into  its  nature  as  a  coun- 
terpart of  the  Church  invisible.  Coupled  with  this  pro- 
pensity to  divide  and  to  establish  new  communions,  there 
has  appeared  a  tendency  to  overlook  the  proper  function 
of  the  Church,  and  to  stretch  the  jurisdiction  of  the  sev- 
eral bodies  thus  formed  over  the  individuals  who  belong  to 
them,  in  matters  both  of  opinion  and  practice,  to  an  i -\- 
tent  not  warranted  by  the  principles  of  Christianity. 
Protestantism  has  sometimes  given  rise  to  an  .  ,  <  1.  siasti- 


550       RELATION   OF   PROTESTANTISM  TO   CIVILIZATION. 

cal  tyranny  as  unjustifiable  as  that  which  is  charged  upon 
Rome.  In  some  cases,  the  rights  of  the  individual  count 
for  little  against  the  claims,  or  even  the  whims  of  the 
particular  religious  community  in  which  he  is  enrolled, 
and  to  which  he  pays  allegiance.  But  within  the  bosom 
of  the  Protestant  bodies  there  are  constantly  at  work, 
with  a  growing  efficiency,  forces  adverse  to  schism  and 
separation,  and  in  favor  of  the  restoration  of  a  Christian 
unity,  which,  springing  out  of  common  convictions  with 
regard  to  essential  truth,  and  animated  by  the  spirit  of 
charity,  shall  soften  the  antagonism  of  sects,  and  diminish, 
if  not  obliterate,  their  points  of  diversity.  This  irenical 
tendency  seems  prophetic  of  a  new  stage  in  the  develop- 
ment of  Protestantism,  when  freedom  and  union,  liberty 
and  order,  shall  be  found  compatible.1 

1  In  the  first  age  of  the  Reformation,  Protestants  were  not  in  a  situation  to 
establish  missions  among  the  heathen.  Apart  from  other  circumstances,  the 
dominion  of  the  sea  was  in  the  hands  of  the  Catholic  powers.  In  the  seven- 
teenth century,  for  a  long  time,  Protestants  were  too  busy  in  defending  their 
faith,  in  Europe,  to  think  of  enterprises  abroad.  But  the  English  settlements  in 
New  England  had  for  a  part  of  their  design  the  conversion  of  the  Indians.  The 
name  of  John  Eliot  has  a  high  place  in  missionary  biography.  The  Dutch, 
in  the  seventeenth  century,  did  much  missionary  work  among  their  settlements 
in  the  East;  sometimes  in  a  too  sectarian  spirit  and  with  too  great  a  desire  to 
swell  the  number  of  nominal  adherents.  Cromwell  formed  a  scheme  for  a 
society  for  the  diffusion  of  Protestant  Christianity  over  the  globe.  In  the  last 
century  and  in  the  present,  Protestant  missions  have  been  prosecuted  by  differ- 
ent religious  bodies  with  zeal  and  success.  The  Catholic  counter-reformation 
was  attended  with  great  exertions  for  the  propagation  of  the  Catholic  faith 
among  the  heathen.  The  Orders  were  especially  prominent  in  this  work.  In 
South  America  and  Mexico,  in  India,  China,  and  Japan,  their  efforts  were  un- 
tiring. The  record  of  Jesuit  missions  among  the  North  American  Indians  pre- 
sents examples  of  self-denying  fortitude  almost  without  a  parallel.  (See 
Parkman's  admirable  work,  The  Jesuits  in  North  America.)  In  the  East, 
Xayier  labored  with  an  irresistible  earnestness.  His  career  (1542-1552)  was 
remarkable.  Multitudes  of  the  heathen  consented  to  receive  baptism  at  his 
hands.  Nobili  in  India,  Ricci  in  China,  and  other  missionaries  followed  his 
example.  The  Congregatio  de  propaganda  fide  was  established  in  1622.  But 
the  religious  Orders  fell  into  conflict  with  one  another.  The  excessive  accom- 
modation of  the  Jesuits  to  heathen  customs  was  sternly  resisted  by  the  Fran- 
ciscans and  Dominicans,  and  finally  condemned  at  Rome.  In  Japan,  the  Jesuits 
rendered  themselves  politically  obnoxious,  and  Avere  driven  out.  The  perma- 
nent results  of  the  Roman  Catholic  missions  since  the  Reformation,  considering 


RELIGION  AND   CULTURE.  551 

It  is  a  distinctive  characteristic  of  Protestantism,  that 
it  does  not  assume  to  be  unerring  in  its  interpretations  of 
divine  revelation,  or  in  its  understanding  of  Christian 
ethics.  Much  less  does  it  pretend  that  its  disciples  are 
impeccable  in  practical  conduct.  This  capacity  of  intel- 
lectual and  moral  progress  leaves  the  Protestant  free, 
while  adhering  to  the  essential  principles  of  the  Reforma- 
tion, to  criticise  the  doings  of  those  in  past  times  who 
have  professed  them,  to  modify  their  opinions  on  points 
where  they  are  seen  to  have  been  erroneous,  and  to  ad- 
vance in  a  hopeful  spirit  towards  a  future  in  which  relig- 
ious truth  shall  be  seen  in  a  clearer  light,  and  be  more 
consistently  applied  in  the  lives  of  men. 

The  true  relation  of  Christianity  to  culture,  Protestant- 
ism, despite  many  inconsistencies  and  errors,  has  not  failed 
to  discern.  Christianity  was  the  religion  of  humanity  in 
every  just  sense  of  the  term.  It  not  only  abolished  all 
national  antipathies  ;  broke  down  the  Avail  of  partition 
between  Jew  and  Gentile,  which  had  been  necessary  in 
the  planting  of  true  religion  :  it  obliterated,  also,  the  line 
of  separation  between  religion  and  the  varied  activities  and 
provinces  of  human  life.  Rules  gave  way  to  principles  ; 
the  letter  of  commandments  to  the  spirit  of  a  new  life. 
The  disciple  was  not  to  avoid  the  world,  but  only  the 
evil  in  it.  Religion  was  not  to  be  something  apart,  but 
rather  a  leaven  to  permeate  all  things.  St.  Paul  took  up 
phrases  of  heathen  poets  and  Stoic  philosophers,  and  gave 
them  a  new  setting.  .  Christianity  was  to  assimilate  even- 
thing  not  alien  to  its  own  essence.  It  came  not  to  1  rample 
on  any  genuine  products  of  the  human  mind  or  ex  pres- 
sions  of  human  nature,  in  literature,  art,  or  social  lite,  but 

the  number  of  their  nominal  converts,  are  not  such  as  to  inspire  confidence  in 
the  methods  in  which  they  were  prosecuted.  Xavier  describes  the  course  be  took 
—  how,  for  example,  he  made  Christians  of  ten  thousand  in  a  month.  Si  I! 
J.  Coleridge,  Life  and  Letters  of  St.  Francis  Xavit  ■  L872  i.  M  I.  On  the 
Catholic  missions,  see  Ranke,  History  of  the  Popes,  ii.  603.  Gieseler,  it.  i-  3, 
c.  iii.  §  61;  IV.  ii.  2,  c.  ii. 


552      RELATION   OF   PROTESTANTISM   TO   CIVILIZATION. 

to  purify  them  all  and  to  reveal  their  connection  with  the 
supreme  end  of  man's  being.  All  this  is  comprised  in 
the  realization  of  the  kingdom  of  God  on  earth.  It  in- 
volves the  perfection  of  human  nature  on  all  sides.  Thus 
Christianity  came  not  to  destroy,  but  to  fulfill;  not 
merely  to  carry  out  law  to  its  ultimate  statement,  but  to 
give  full  effect  to  every  aspiration  and  tendency  proper  to 
man.  Its  law  of  self-denial  was  not  a  rule  of  asceticism, 
but  of  rational  self-control. 

The  corruption  of  ancient  society,  spreading  its  infec- 
tion within  the  Church,  in  connection  with  judaicai  ideas 
of  the  separateness  of  religion  and  of  religious  persons,  pro- 
duced asceticism.  A  new  wall  was  erected  between 
things  sacred  and  secular,  between  priest  and  layman,  be- 
tween religion  and  human  life.  The  ascetic  would  es- 
cape from  the  contamination  of  evil  by  abjuring  even  in- 
nocent gratifications.  His  remedy  is  to  stunt  and  dwarf 
his  nature.  He  attaches  a  stigma  to  relations  and  em- 
ployments into  which  the  bulk  of  mankind  must  enter. 
Such  was  the  error  of  the  Middle  Ages. 

Protestantism  cast  away  this  error.  It  was  a  religion 
of  the  spirit  and  of  liberty.  Luther  advised  monks  and 
nuns  to  marry,  to  engage  in  useful  employments,  to  get 
from  life  all  reasonable  pleasures,  and  to  do  good  in  a 
practical  way.  Religion  is  not  to  divorce  itself  from 
science,  art,  industry,  recreation,  from  anything  that  pro- 
motes the  well-being  of  man  on  earth  ;  but  religion  is  to 
leaven  all  with  a  higher  consecration.  This  is  the  real 
creed  of  Protestantism.  It  does  not  hold  to  a  Hebraic 
isolation  of  the  religious  element,  nor  to  a  pagan  self-in- 
dulgence. It  steers  midway  between  the  false  extremes 
of  license  and  asceticism.  There  are  popular  writers  at 
the  present  day  who  openly  contend  for  the  absolute  con- 
trol of  impulse,  or  for  a  surrender  to  nature,  such  as 
characterized  the  Greeks  of  old,  but  which  brought  ruin 


RELIGION   AND   CULTURE.  553 

upon  Greek  civilization.  They  feel  the  error  of  asceti- 
cism so  strongly  as  almost  to  loathe  the  Middle  Ages  1 
These  writers  strangely  overlook  the  place  of  self-denial 
m  a  world  where  evil  has  so  great  a  sway  ;  and  they 
strangely  forget  that  the  antique  culture,  with  all  its 
beautiful  products,  underwent  a  terrible  shipwreck.  The 
problem  of  the  reconciliation  of  religion  and  culture,  and 
of  the  harmonizing  of  the  proper  claims  of  this  life  and 
of  the  life  to  come,  is  one  for  the  solution  of  which  Prot- 
estantism has  the  key. 

1  See  the  writings  of  Taine,  passim. 


APPENDIX  I. 


A  CHRONOLOGICAL  TABLE.* 

1479.  Union  of  Aragon  and  Castile  under  Ferdinand  V.  (the  Catholic) 

and  Isabella.     (Conquest  of  Granada,  1492.) 

1480.  Establishment  of  the  Spanish  Inquisition. 

1483.  Birth  of  Luther,  November  10.  . 

1484.  Birth  of  Zwingle,  January  1. 

1485.  Accession  of  Henry  VII.  (the  House  of  Tudor),  in  England; 

end  of  the  Wars  of  the  Roses. 

1491.  Birth  of  Ignatius  Loyola. 

1492.  Discovery  of  America  by  Columbus. 

1493.  Accession  of  Maximilian  I.  as  Emperor. 

1494.  Invasion  of  Italy  by  Charles  VIII.     Conquest  of  Naples  by  the 

French.     Beginning  of  the  Wars  of  Italy. 

1495.  Naples  reconquered  by  Ferdinand  II.     Diet  of  Worms  :    estab- 

lishment of  the  Imperial  Chamber. 

1497.  Birth   of  Melancthon,   February   G.     Vasco   da  Gama  doubles 

the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  and  sails  to  India. 

1498.  Death  of  Savonarola,  May  23. 

1500.  Birth  of  Charles  V.,  February  24. 

1501.  Louis   XII.   and   Ferdinand    V.    (the    Catholic),   conquer  and 

divide  the  kingdom  of  Naples.     Contest  between  them. 

1502.  The  University  of  Wittenberg  is  founded. 

1503.  Louis  XII.  finally  deprived  of  Naples.     Erasmus  publishes  the 

"Manual  of  a  Christian  Soldier."     Death  of  Pope  Alexander 
VI.;   accession  of  Julius  II. 

1504.  Death  of  Isabella  of  Castile.   She  is  succeeded  by  her  daughter 

Joanna,  with  her  husband  Philip  I.  of  Austria,  Duke  of  Bur- 
gundy. 

1505.  Peace  between  France  and  Spain;  the  kingdom  of  Naples  i< 

left  wholly  to  Spain.     Luther  enters  a  monastery  :it  Erfurt, 
August  17. 

1  In  preparing  this  Table,  much  aid  has  been  derived  from  the  Tablet  of 
Chronology  in  Alberi's  edition  of  the  Rtlcusiom  degti  Ambatriatori  Veneti 
(Appendice),  1863. 


556  APPENDIX. 

1506.  Death  of  Philip  I.  Joanna  becomes  demented.  Charles  I.  suc- 
ceeds them  (in  his  minority).  Julius  I.  begins  St.  Peter's 
Church.  He  extends  the  papal  dominion  over  Perugia  and 
Bologna.    Accession  of  Sigismund  I.  in  Poland. 

1508.  League  of  Cambray  against  Venice,  formed  by  Julius  II.,  Fer- 

dinand V.,  Louis  XII.,  and  Maximilian  I.  Luther  is  made 
a  professor  at  Wittenberg. 

1509.  Accession  of  Henry  VIII.  ia  England.     His  marriage  with 

Catharine  of  Aragon,  June  29.  Luther  is  ordained  a  priest, 
May  2.     Birth  of  Calvin,  July  10. 

1510.  Conquest  of  Goa  on  the  coast  of  Malabar;  foundation  of  Por- 

tuguese power  in  the  East.  Julius  II.  unites  with  Venice  to 
drive  the  French  out  of  Italy.     Luther  visits  Rome. 

1511.  Ferdinand  V.  and  Henry  VIII.  join  the  Holy  League,  osten- 

sibly for  the  protection  of  the  Church. 

1512.  Maximilian   joins  the  Holy   League.     Maximilian  of  Sforza 

placed  on  the  Ducal  throne  of  Milan,  from  which  the  French 
are  expelled.     The  Lateran  Council  (5th)  opens,  May  3. 

1513.  Death  of  Julius  II.,  February  24.    Accession  of  Leo  X.,  March 

1 1 .  Death  of  James  IV.  of  Scotland.  Accession  of  James 
V. 

1514.  Reuchlin's  conflict  with  the  Dominicans. 

1515.  Death  of  Louis  XII.;  accession  of  Francis  I.     He  sets  out  to 

reconquer  Milan.  Battle  of  Marignano,  September  13. 
Abolishment  of  the  Pragmatic  Sanction. 

1516.  Death  of  Ferdinand  V.,  January  23.     Charles  of  Austria  be- 

comes monarch  of  all  Spain  and  its  dependencies.  Peace 
concluded  between  France,  Spain,  and  Austria.  Death  of 
Ladislaus,  king  of  Hungary  and  Bohemia ;  succeeded  by 
Louis  II.  Zwingle  a  preacher  in  Einsiedeln.  Erasmus 
publishes  his  New  Testament.  "  Epistola?  Obscurorum  Viro- 
rum." 

1517.  Luther  posts  his  Theses,  October  31. 

1518.  Luther   appears    before    Cajetan    at    Augsburg,    October    7. 

Melancthon  arrives  at  Wittenberg,  August  25.  Leo  X.  pub- 
lishes a  Bull  on  Indulgences,  November  9.  Mission  of  Mil- 
titz  into  Saxony,  December.  Zwingle  becomes  pastor  in 
Zurich. 

1519.  Death  of  Maximilian  I.,  January  12.     Charles,  king  of  Spain, 

elected  Emperor,  June  28.  Disputation  at  Leipsic,  July  24. 
Birth  of  Catharine  de  Medici,  April  13. 

1520.  Excommunication   of    Luther  by   Leo  X.,  June    15.     Luther 

burns  the  bull,  December  10.     Insurrection  of  the  Spanish 


A    CHRONOLOGICAL    TABLE  557 

Commons ;  subdued  the  next  year.  Death  of  Selim  I.,  and 
accession  of  Soliman  II.  as  Sultan.  Magellan  begins  the 
first  voyage  round  the  world. 

1521.  Another    bull    issued    against    Luther,   January    S.     Luther 

appears  before  the  Diet  of  Worms,  April  18.  Edict  of  the 
Diet  against  him,  May  2G.  His  abduction  to  the  Wartburg, 
April  28.  League  of  Leo  X.  and  Charles  V.  Milan  is 
wrested  from  the  French  by  Charles  V.  Accession  of  Henry 
VIII.  to  the  League.  Soliman  II.  invades  Hungary  and 
takes  Belgrade,  August.  Death  of  Leo  X.,  December  l. 
Conquest  of  Mexico  by  Cortez,  completed  August  13. 

1522.  Accession  of  Adrian  VI.,  January  9.     Disturbances  by  Cari- 

stadt  at  Wittenberg.  Luther  leaves  the  Wartburg.  Luther's 
Answer  to  Henry  VIII.,  July  15.  Adrian's  Letter  to  the 
Diet  of  Nuremberg,  September  24.  The  Hundred  Griev- 
ances of  Germany.     Capture  of  Rhodes  by  Soliman  II. 

1523.  Gustavus  Vasa  is  proclaimed  king  of  Sweden,  June  G.     Defec- 

tion of  the  Constable  Bourbon.  Death  of  Adrian  VI.,  Sep- 
tember 24.  Accession  of  Clement  VII.,  November  10.  dis- 
putations at  Zurich,  January  29,  and  October  2G.  Reforma- 
tion in  Livonia. 

1524.  Treaty  of  Malmoe.  End  of  the  Union  of  Calmar.    Independence 

of  Sweden.  Albert  of  Brandenburg  declares  for  the  Refor- 
mation. The  Landgrave  of  Hesse  favors  it.  Catholic  League 
signed  at  Ratisbon,  July  10.  Peasants'  War.  Quarrel  of 
Erasmus  and  Ulrich  von  Huttcn.    Secret  alliance  of  Clement 

VII.  and  Francis  I.     Order  of  Theatins  is  founded. 

1525.  Defeat    and    capture    of  Francis    I.    at    Favia,    February    '_'.">. 

Frederic  I.  of  Denmark  grants  liberty  to  Protestantism. 
Mass  abolished  at  Zurich,  April  11.  Zwingle  publishes  his 
"  Commentary  on  True  and  False  Religion."  Luther's  mar- 
riage, June  18.     Death  of  the  Elector  Frederic,  May  5. 

1526.  Treaty  of  Madrid,  January   It.     Battle  of  Mohacs.     Death  of 

Louis  II.    Ferdinand   of  Austria  becomes  king  of  Bohemia 
and  Hungary.  Civil  war  in  Hungary.    League  of  Cognac,  be- 
tween Francis  I.,  Clement   VII.,  and  other  powers,  against 
the  Emperor,  May  22.     Recess  of  the  Diet  of  Spires,  A 
27.     The  League  of  Torgau  is  Conned. 

1527.  Capture    and  sack  of   Rome   by  the   imperial  troops.     Henry* 

VIII.  seeks  a  divorce  from  Catharine  of  Aragon.  Diet  of 
Westeras:  establishment  of  the  Reformation  in  Sweden. 
Visitation  of  the  Saxon  Churches. 

1528.  Reformation  begins   in    Scotland.    Martyrdom   of  Hamilton. 

Reformation  established  in  Berne. 


558  APPENDIX. 

1529.  Second  Diet  of  Spires.    Protest  of  the  Lutherans.     Treaty  of 

Barcelona  between  the  Pope  and  the  Emperor.  Peace  of 
Cambray.  Francis  I.  leaves  Milan  to  the  Empire1.  Siege  of 
Vienna  by  Soliman  II.  Reformation  established  in  Basel. 
The  Marburg  Conference,  October  1. 

1530.  Coronation  of  Charles  V.  by  Clement   VII.  at  Bologna,  Feb- 

ruary 22.  Diet  of  Augsburg  is  opened,  June  25.  Geneva 
freed  from  the  Dukes  of  Savoy.  Death  of  Cardinal  Wolsey, 
November  30. 

1531.  The    Archduke    Ferdinand   of  Austria,    elected   King  of  the 

Romans,  January  5.  League  of  Smalcald,  February  17. 
Henry  VIII.  is  styled  by  the  clergy  Head  of  the  Church  of 
England,  March  22.  A  Diet  at  Spires,  September  13.  War 
of  Cappel.  Death  of  Zwingle,  October  11.  Peace  between 
Zurich  and  the  five  Cantons,  November  16.  Death  of 
Oecolampadius,  November  23. 

1532.  Peace  of  Nuremberg.  Alarm  from  the  Turks.  Death  of  the  Elec- 

tor John,  August  15.  He  is  succeeded  by  John  Frederic. 
Farel  preaches  in  Geneva. 

1533.  Divorce  of  Henry  VIII.,  and  his  marriage  with  Anne  Boleyn. 

Marriage  of  Henry  of  Orleans  (afterwards  Henry  II.)  with 
Catharine  de  Medici,  October  28. 

1534.  Henry  VIII.  is  excommunicated  by  Clement  VII.,  March  23. 

Act  of  Supremacy  passed,  November  23.  Death  of  Clement 
VII. ;  succeeded  by  Paul  III.,  October  13.  Alliance  of 
Francis  I.  with  the  Sultan.  Loyola  commences  the  organi- 
zation of  the  Jesuit  Order  at  Paris.  Luther's  translation  of 
the  Bible  is  completed. 

1535.  Persecution  of  French  Protestants  by  Francis  I.     He  invites 

Melancthon  to  his  court,  June  28.  Miinster  taken  from  the 
Anabaptists,  June  24.  Expedition  of  Charles  V.  to  Tunis. 
Francisco  Sforza  leaves  Milan  to  Charles  V.  Consequent 
war  between  Charles  and  Francis  I.  Establishment  of  Prot- 
estantism in  Geneva.  Calvin  publishes  his  "  Institutes  "  at 
Basel. 

1536.  Execution  of  Anne  Boleyn,  May  19.     Marriage  of  Henry  VIII. 

with  Jane  Seymour,  May  20.  Invasion  of  Provence  by  the 
Imperialists.  Their  retreat.  Death  of  Erasmus,  July  12. 
Calvin  appears  in  Geneva,  August. 

1537.  Birth  of  Edward   VI.     Death  of  Jane   Seymour,  October  12. 

Ecclesiastical  Supremacy  of  Henry  VIII.  declared  by  the 
Irish  parliament.  Christian  III.  establishes  the  Reformation 
in  Denmark.  Paul  III.  appoints  Commissions  of  Reform. 
The  Counter-reformation. 


A   CHRONOLOGICAL   TABLE.  559 

1588.  League  against  the  Turks.  Treaty  of  Ferdinand  with  John 
Zapolya.  Catholic  League  formed  in  Germany,  June  10. 
Calvin  banished  from  Geneva. 

1539.  The  Six  Articles  passed  in  England.    Conferences  in  Germany 

between  Catholics  and  Protestants:  Hagenau;  Worms. 
Reformation  in  the  Duchy  of  Saxony  and  in  Branden- 
burg. 

1540.  Marriage  (the  fourth)  of  Henry  VIII.  with  Anna  of  Cleves. 

He  is  divorced,  and  marries  Catharine  Howard,  August  8. 
Execution  of  Cromwell,  July  29.  Death  of  John  of  Zapolya. 
Paul  III.  approves  of  the  statutes  of  the  Jesuit  Order,  Sep- 
tember 27. 

1541.  A   Diet   and    Conference    at    Ratisbon :     Contarini    present. 

Expedition  of  Charles  V.  to  Algiers.  Soliman  reenters 
Hungary.     Calvin  recalled  to  Geneva. 

1542.  Execution  of  Catharine  Howard,  February  13.  War  rekindled 

between  Charles  V.  and  Francis  I.  Death  of  James  V.  of 
Scotland.  Regency  of  Mary  of  Guise.  Xavier  arrives  at  Goa 
in  the  East  Indies.  Reformation  in  Brunswick.  Flight  of 
Ocliino  from  Italy. 

1543.  Alliance  of  Charles    V.  and   Henry  VIII.  against  Francis  I. 

Marriage  (the  sixth)  of  Henry  VIII.  with  Catharine  Parr, 
July  12.     Revival  of  the  Inquisition  in  Italy. 

1544.  Peace  of  Crespy  renews,  for  substance,  the    stipulations  of 

the  Peace  of  Cambray.  The  Turks  masters  of  a  great  part 
of  Hungary. 

1545.  Opening  of  the  Council  of  Trent.  December  13. 

1546.  Union  of  Maurice  of  Saxony  with  Charles  V.     The  Elector  of 

Saxony  and  the  Landgrave  of  Hesse  are  put  under  the  ban 
of  the  Empire.  The  Smalcaldic  War.  Assassination  of 
Cardinal  Beaton.  Death  of  Luther,  February  18.  Refor- 
mation of  the  Electoral  Palatinate. 

1547.  Death  of  Henry  VIII.,  January  28.  He  is  succeeded  by  Edward 

VI.  Death  of  Francis  I.,  March  31.  He  is  succeeded  by 
Henry  II.  Battle  of  Miihlberg,  April  21.  The  Pope  trans- 
fers the  Council  from  Trent  to  Bologna,  by  way  of  opposi- 
tion to  the  influence  of  the  Emperor.  Truce  between 
Ferdinand  and  the.  Turks. 

1548.  Diet   at    Augsburg.     Establishment  of  the   Interim.  May    15. 

The  Electoral  dignity  is  transferred  to  Maurice.  The  Leipsic 
Interim.  Marriage  of  Jeanne  d'Albret  with  Anthonj  of 
Bourbon,  Duke  of  Vendome — the  parents  of  Henry  I  V 
Death  of  Sigismund  I.  of  Poland.    Succeeded  by  Sigismund 


560  APPENDIX. 

Augustus  (Sigismund  II.).  Mary  Queen  of  Scots  is  taken  to 
France,  being  contracted  to  the  Dauphin.  Book, of  Common 
Prayer  is  introduced.    Revised  in  1552. 

1549.  Death  of  Paul  III,  February  8. 

1550.  Julius  III.  is  elected  Pope,  February  8.     Martyr,  Bucer,  and 

other  reformers  from  the  Continent  are  received  in  England. 
Hooper  made  Bishop  of  Gloucester.  Vestment  controversy 
begins. 

1551.  Renewed  war  between  France  and  Austria.     Henry  II.  allies 

himself  with  the  German  Protestants.  Maurice  of  Saxony 
takes  up  the  cause  of  the  Protestants. 

1552.  Henry  II.  occupies  Metz,  Toul,  and  Verdun.     Maurice  obliges 

the  Emperor  to  fly  from  Innsbruck,  to  liberate  the  Elector 
and  the  Landgrave,  and  to  conclude  the  peace  of  Passau. 
The  Emperor  lays  siege  to  Metz,  October.  Framing  of  the 
Articles  (42)  of  the  Church  of  England.  Execution  of 
Somerset. 

1553.  Death  of  Edward  VI.     Mary  is  proclaimed  Queen  of  England, 

October  4.     Death  of  Servetus  at  Geneva,  October  27. 

1554.  Wyat's  Rebellion.     Restoration  of  Papal  Supremacy  in  Eng- 

land. Marriage  of  Mary  with  Philip  of  Spain,  July  25. 
Charles  V.  gives  up  Sicily  and  Naples  to  his  son  Philip. 

1555.  Peace  of  Augsburg.     Ecclesiastical  Reservation.     Persecution 

of  Protestants  in  England.  Death  of  Ridley  and  Latimer, 
October  15.  Death  of  Julius  III.  Accession  of  Paul  IV., 
May  23.  Charles  V.  resigns  the  Netherlands  to  Philip, 
October  25.  League  of  Paul  IV.  with  France,  to  wrest 
Naples  from  Spain. 

1556.  Abdication  of  Charles  V.,  January  16.    He  gives  up  the  empire 

to  Ferdinand,  August  27.  He  embarks  for  Spain,  September 
1 7.  Renewal  of  war  in  Italy  between  the  Pope  in  alliance 
with  France,  and  Spain.  Death  of  Cranmer,  March  21. 
Death  of  Ignatius  Loyola.  July  31. 

1557.  Defeat  of  the  French  at  St.  Quentin,  August  10.    Peace  between 

the  Duke  of  Alva  and  Paul  IV. 

1558.  Calais  is  taken  from  the  English  by  the  Duke  of  Guise,  Jan- 

uary 8.  Marriage  of  Mary  Stuart  with  the  Dauphin, 
Francis,  April  24.  Defeat  of  the  French  at  Gravelines, 
July  13.  Death  of  Charles  V.  at  the  monastery  of  Yuste, 
September  21.  Death  of  Mary  of  England,  November  17. 
Accession  of  Elizabeth. 

1559.  Peace  of  Cateau-Cambresis,  August  3.     Death  of  Henry  n., 

July  10.  He  is  succeeded  by  Francis  II.    Margaret  of  Parma 


A   CHRONOLOGICAL   TABLE.  ,%! 

is  made  Regent  of  the  Netherlands,  with  (Welle,  Bishop 
of  Arras    for  her  principal   minister.     Return  of  Philip  to 
Spain      Persecution  of  Protestants  in  Spain.     Autos  da  fe 
Ac   of  Supremacy  in  England.    Court  of  High  Commission ; 
Act  of  Uniformity.  Death  of  Paul  IV.,  August  18  :  succeeded 
by  Pius  IV.     General  Synod  of  the   Huguenots  in   Paris. 
Contest  between  the  Regent  Mary  and  the  Lords  of  the 
Congregation  in  Scotland.     Return  of  John  Knox 
1560.  Conspiracy  of  Amboise,  March.   Edict  of  Romorantin.    Colony 
presents  the  Huguenot  petitions  at  Fontainebleau.     States- 
General  convoked  at  Orleans.    Navarre   under  surveillance 
Arrest  and  trial  of  Conde.     Death  of  Francis  II.,  December 
5.  Accession  of  Charles  IX.    Catharine  de  Medici  attains  to 
power.     Death  of  Gustavus  Vasa.    Succeeded  by  Eric  XIV 
Elizabeth  supports  the  Protestants  in   Scotland.    Treaty  of 
Edinburgh.    Protestantism  established  in  Scotland  by  act  of 
Parliament,  August  25.    Death  of  the  Regent  Mary,  August 

1561.  Return  of  Mary  Stuart  to  Scotland.     Her  first  interview  with 

Knox.     Colloquy  of  Poissy,  September. 

1562.  Edict  of  St.  Germain.  A  measure  of  toleration  is  granted  to  the 

Huguenots.  Massacre  of  Vassy,  March  1.  Civil  war  in 
France.  Capture  of  Rouen.  Death  of  Anthonv  of  Navarre 
on  the  Catholic  side,  November  1  7.  Battle  of  Dreux  De- 
cember 19.  Revision  of  the  Articles  of  the  Church  of  En- 
land. 

1563.  Siege  of  Orleans  by  the  Catholics.    Assassination  of  the  Dnke 

of  Guise,  February  18.  Edict  of  Amboise,  March  19.  Close 
of  the  Council  of  Trent. 

1564.  Granvelle   leaves   the   Netherlands.      Death    of    Ferdinand    I 

Accession  of  Maximilian  II.     Death  of  Calvin,  May  27 

1565.  Conference    of    Bayonne.       Marriage    of    Mary    Stuart    with 

Darnley,  July  29.  Cruel  edicts  of  Philip  II.  against  the 
Moors.  Cruelties  of  the  Inquisition  in  the  Motherlands. 
D.'ath  of  Pius  IV.,  December  9. 

1566.  Accession  oi  Pius  V.    The  Compromise  of  Breda.    The  Gueux 

Iconoclasm  in  the  Netherlands.  Death  of  Soliman  II 
Murder  of  Rizzio,  March  9.  Birth  of  James  VI.  of  Scot- 
land,  June  1  !>. 

1567.  Alva  sent  to  the  Netherlands.    The  «  Council  of  Blood."    The 

Regent  Margaret  leaves  the  country.  I  >ecember  SO.  Renewal 
of  war  between  Catholics  and  Huguenots.  Murder  of 
Darnley,    February    9.     Mary   marries    BothweU,   May    15. 


562  APPENDIX. 

Resigns  her  crown  to  her  son,  with  Murray  as  Regent,  July 
24. 

1568.  Flight  of  Mary  into  England.     Conflict  in  the  Netherlands. 

Egmont  and  Horn  are  beheaded,  June  5.  Peace  of  Long- 
jumeau,  March  23.  Edict  against  the  Huguenots,  Septem- 
ber 25. 

1569.  Renewed  insurrection  of  the  Huguenots.     Battle  of  Jarnac; 

Death  of  Louis  de  Conde,  March  13.  Prince  Henry  of 
Navarre  is  recognized  as  head  of  the  Huguenot  party. 
Battle  of  Moncontour,  October  3.  Alva's  scheme  of  taxa- 
tion in  the  Netherlands. 

1570.  Excommunication    of    Elizabeth   by    Pius    V.,    February    25.' 

Second  phase  of  Puritanism :  Cartwright  opposes  Episco- 
pacy. Third  Peace  of  St.  Germain.  Four  towns  given  up  to 
the  Huguenots,  August  15.  Assassination  of  the  Regent 
Murray,  January  23.  Synod  of  Sendomir  in  Poland  ;  union 
of  Protestants. 

1571.  Battle  of  Lepanto,  October  7;  defeat  of  the  Turks. 

1572.  Death  of  Pius  V.    Gregory  XIII.  succeeds  him,  May  13.    Exe- 

cution of  the  Duke  of  Norfolk,  June  2.  Union  of  Holland, 
Zealand,  and  Friesland,  under  William  of  Orange,  May. 
Death  of  Jeanne  d'Albret,  June  10.  Henry  of  Navarre 
marries  Margaret  of  Valois,  August  18.  Massacre  of  St. 
Bartholomew,  August  24.  Death  of  Sigismund  II.  of  Poland  ; 
end  of  the  Jagellon  dynasty :  the  crown  made  elective. 
Death  of  John  Knox,  November  24. 

1573.  "  Pax  Dissidentium  "  in  Poland.  Henry,  Duke  of  Anjou,  elected 

king  of  Poland,  May  9.  Alva  leaves  the  Netherlands-  He  is 
succeeded  by  Requesens. 

1574.  Death  of  Charles  IX.,  May  30.    Accession  of  Henry  III.    Louis 

of  Nassau  is  defeated  and  slain.     Siege  of  Leyden. 

1576.  Organization  of  the  League  in  France.     Death  of  Requesens. 

Pacification  of  Ghent,  November  8.  Don  John  of  Austria 
succeeds  Requesens.  Death  of  Maximilian  II.  Accession  of 
Rudolph  II.  Jesuit  influence  in  the  imperial  court.  The 
Catholic  reaction  in  Germany. 

1577.  Drake  attacks  the  Spanish  ships  and  settlements. 

1578.  Treaty  of  Elizabeth  with  the  Netherlands,  January  7.     Death 

of  Don  John  of  Austria.  He  is  succeeded  by  Alexander  of 
Parma. 

1579.  Utrecht  Union,  January  23.    The  ten  southern  provinces  submit 

to  Alexander  of  Parma. 

1580.  William  of  Orange  is  proscribed  by  Philip  H.     Rebellion  in 

Ireland  fomented  by  Spain. 


A    CHRONOLOGICAL   TABLE.  563 

1581.  The  United  Provinces  renounce  the  authority  of   Spain,  July 

2.  The  protectorate  of  the  Low  Countries  is  given  to  the 
Duke  of  Anjou,  brother  of  Plenry  III. 

1582.  Successes  of  Parma  in  the  Netherlands. 

1583.  The  Duke  of  Anjou  returns  to  France. 

1584.  Death  of  the  Duke  of  Anjou,  June  10.    Henry  of  Navarre  be- 

comes the  heir  of  the  crown.  Alliance  of  the  League  with 
Spain.  Treaty  of  Joinville,  December  31.  Assassination  of 
William  of  Orange,  July  10. 

1585.  Death  of  Gregory  XIIL,  April   10.    Accession  of  Sixtus  V., 

April  24.  He  excommunicates  Henry  of  Navarre,  Septem- 
ber 10.  Surrender  of  Antwerp  to  Alexander  of  Parma, 
August  17.  The  United  Provinces  place  themselves  under 
the  protection  of  Elizabeth.  Leicester  sent  into  the  Nether- 
lands. Drake  attacks  the  Spanish  settlements  in  the  West 
Indies. 

1586.  War  of  the  three,  Henries  —  Henry  III.,  Navarre,  and  Guise. 

League  between  James  VI.  and  Elizabeth. 

1587.  Execution  of  Mary  Queen  of  Scots,  February  8.     Leicester  re- 

turns to  England.  Maurice  of  Orange  acquires  the  chief 
direction  of  the  contest  in  the  Netherlands.  Sigismund  III.  of 
Sweden  is  elected  king  of  Poland. 

1588.  Hostile  attitude  of  the  League  towards  Henry  III.    Barricades 

in  Paris,  May  12.  Defeat  of  the  Spanish  Armada.  Meeting 
of  the  States-General  at  Blois.  Assassination  of  the  Duke 
of  Guise  and  the  Cardinal  his  brother,  by  Henry  III. 

1589.  Death  of  Catharine  de  Medici,  January  5.     Henry  III.  joins 

Navarre.  Assassination  of  Henry  III.,  August  1.  Henry 
IV.,  is  resisted  by  the  League. 

1590.  Victory  of    Henry  IV.  at    Ivry  over  the  Duke   of  Mayenne, 

March  14.  Death  of  Sixtus  V.  Succeeded  by  Urban  VII. 
Parma  raises  the  siege  of  Paris. 

1591.  Bull  of  Gregory  XIV.  against    Henry  IV.     Heath  of  Gregory 

XIV.,  October  15.  Succeeded  by  Innocent  IX.  His  death, 
December  30.  Henry  IV  invests  Rouen.  Renewed  inva- 
sion of  Hungary  by  the  Turks. 

1592.  Clement  VIII.  becomes  Pope,  January  SO.     Parma  raises  the 

siege  of  Rouen.  Death  of  Parma.  December  2.  Presbyte- 
rianism  is  fully  establish^!  in  Scotland. 

1593.  Division  of  counsels  in  tin-  League.    Abjuratiop  of  Henry  IV, 

July  25.     Rout  of  the  Turks  in   Hungary. 

1594.  Henry  IV.  is  crowned  at  Chart  res,  February  -'7.     lb'   enters 

Paris,  March  22.  Maurice  of  Orange  recovers  the  whole 
territory  of  the  United  Provinces. 


564  APPENDIX. 

1595.  Henry  IV.  declares  war  against  Philip  II.,  January  17.    Clem- 

ent VIII.  absolves  Henry  IV.,  September  17.  t 

1596.  Alliance  of  Henry  IV.  with  Elizabeth.     The  English  destroy 

the  Spanish  fleet  in  the  harbor  of  Cadiz. 

1598.  The  Edict  of  Nantes,  April  30.  The  Peace  of  Vervins  be- 
tween France  and  Spain,  May  2.  Death  of  Philip  II.,  Sep- 
tember 13.     He  is  succeeded  by  Philip  III. 

1600.  Marriage  of  Henry  IV.  with  "Mary  de  Medici.  Giordano 
Bruno  is  burned  at  the  stake,  February  1 7. 

1603.  Death  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  March  24.      Accession  of  James  I. 

1604.  Hampton    Court  Conference,  January  16.     Letter  of  Majesty 

grants  protection  to  the  Protestants  of  Bohemia. 

1605.  The  Gunpowder  Plot. 

1607.  Donauworth  seized  by  the  Duke  of  Bavaria. 

1608.  Protestant  Union  formed  in  Germany. 

1609.  Twelve  years'  truce  established  between  Spain  and  the  United 

Provinces. 

1610.  Catholic  League  formed  in  Germany  under  the  Duke  of  Bava- 

ria. 

1611.  The  English  Bible  published  by  authority.     Gustavus  Adol- 

phus  becomes  king  of  Sweden. 

1612.  Matthias  becomes  emperor. 

1617.  James  I.  imposes  Episcopacy  on  Scotland. 

1618.  Revolt  of  the  Bohemians  against  Ferdinand  II.  in  defense  of 

their  religious  liberties. 

1619.  Accession  of  Ferdinand  II.  as  Emperor.    Election  of  Ferdinand 

V.,  Elector  Palatine,  as  king  of  Bohemia. 

1620.  The  Elector  Palatine  stripped  of  his  dominions.     Persecution 

of  Puritans  in  England.  Landing  of  the  Pilgrims  at 
Plymouth,  December  21.  Convent  of  Port  Royal  estab- 
lished. 

1621.  Revolt  of  the  Huguenots. 

1622.  Congregatio  de  Propaganda  Fide  is  established  :  (college  for 

missionaries  founded,  1627). 

1624.  Richelieu  becomes  the  minister  of  Louis  XIII. 

1625.  Accession  of  Charles  I.     War  with  the  Huguenots  begins  in 

France.  Alliance  of  England,  Holland,  and  Denmark,  in 
behalf  of  the  Elector  Palatine. 

1626.  Death  of  Lord  Bacon.     Defeat  of  Mansfield  by  Wallenstein  at 

Dessau. 

1627.  Mecklenburg  is  given  to  Wallenstein. 

1628.  Surrender  of  Rochelle.  Destruction  of  the  political  power  of  the 

Huguenots. 


A   CHRONOLOGICAL   TABLE.  565 

1629.  Peace  of  Liibeck,  May.     Edict  of  Restitution,  March. 

1630.  Wallenstein   dismissed  from   his   command.     Intervention    of 

Gustavus  Adolphus. 

1631.  The  capture  of  Magdeburg  by  Tilly,  May.     Battle  of  Leipsic  ; 

defeat  of  Tilly,  August  28.  Wallenstein  restored  to  his 
command,  April. 

1632.  Battle  of  Lutzen  :  death  of  Gustavus  Adolphus,  November  16. 

1633.  Alliance  of  France  with  Sweden  and  the  Protestants  :  treaty 

of  Heilbronn,  April  23.  Laud  is  made  Archbishop  of  Can- 
terbury. Galileo  is  forced  to  renounce  the  Copernican 
theory. 

1634.  Defeat  of  the  Swedes  at  Nordlingen,  September  6. 

1635.  The  Peace  of  Prague,  May  30.    The  Edict  of  Restitution  is 

given  up  as  to  Saxony  and  Brandenburg. 

1637.  Accession  of  Ferdinand  III.  as  emperor. 

1638.  Bernard  of  Weimar  leads  the  anti-imperialist  forces. 

1639.  Death  of  Bernard.     Richelieu's  influence  predominant  in  the 

war. 

1640.  The  Long  Parliament  assembles  in  England.     Accession  of 

Frederic  William,  the  Great  Elector. 

1642.  War  of  King  and  Parliament  in  England. 

1643.  Accession    of    Louis    XIV.     Westminster    Assembly    meets. 

League  and  Covenant  adopted  by  Parliament. 

1644.  Accession  of  Pope  Innocent  X. 

1645.  Battle  of  Naseby. 

1648.  Peace  of  Westphalia.    Termination  of  the  Thirty  Years'  War. 

1649.  Execution  of  Charles  I. 

1650.  Death  of  Des  Cartes. 

1653.  Cromwell  is  made  Lord  Protector.    Condemnation  of  Jansenism 

by  Innocent  X. 
1658.  Death  of  Cromwell. 
1GG0.  Restoration  of  Charles  II. 

1661.  The   Savoy  Conference.     Restoration  of  Episcopacy  in   Soot- 

land.     Death  of  Mazarin.     Persecution  of  the  Huguenots. 

1662.  Ejection  of  the  Presbyterian  ministers  under  the  Act  of  Uni- 

formity. 
1668.  Triple    alliance  against  Louis  XIV.,  to  compel  him  to  make 

peace  with  Spain. 
1670.  Secret  alliance,  of  Charles  II.  and  Louis  XIV. 

1672.  William  III.  is  elected  Stadtholder. 

1673.  Declaration  of  Indulgence  by  James  II. 
1676.  Accession  of  Innocent  XI. 

1678-9.  Peace  of  Nimeguen. 


566  APPENDIX. 

1682.  Assembly  of  the  clergy  of  France  :  four  Propositions  of  Galli- 
canism. 

1 685.  Death  of  Charles  II.    Accession  of  James  II.     Revocation  of 

the  Edict  of  Nantes,  October  18. 

1686.  Revival  of  the  Court  of  High  Commission  by  James  II. 
1688.  William  III.  lands  at  Torbay.    Flight  of  James  II. 
1691.  Accession  of  Innocent  XII. 

1694.  Birth  of  Voltaire,  February  20. 

1697.  Peace  of  Ryswick,  September  20.    Louis  XIV.  acknowledges 
William  III.  as  King  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland. 


APPENDIX  II. 


A  LIST  OF  WORKS  ON  THE  REFORMATION.! 

WORKS  IN  GENERAL    HISTORY    RELATING    TO    THE    PERIOD    OF    THE 
REFORMATION. 

Thuanus  (De  Thou)  :  Historiarum  sui  Temporis,  libri  138  (1546- 
1607).  First  complete  ed. ;  Orleans  (Geneva),  1620  seq.,  5  vols., 
fol.  (With  the  appendix  of  Rigault,  7  vols.,  London,  1  733,  fol.) 
French  transl.  16  vols.,  4to,  London  (Paris),  1734. 

De  Thou,  son  of  Christophe  de  Thou,  President  of  the  Parliament 
of  Paris,  was  born  in  1553,  and  died  in  1617.  He  held  high  offices 
under  Henry  HI.  and  Henry  IV.  He  was  a  moderate  Catholic, 
personally  conversant  with  the  men  and  events  of  his  time,  and  an 
upright  historian. 

Relazioni  degli  Ambasciatori  Veneti  al  Scnato,  raccolte,  annotate,  ed 
edite  da  Eugenio  Alberi.     15  vols.     8vo.     Firenze,  1839-63. 

W.  Robertson  :  History  of  Charles  V.  Ed.  by  W.  H.  Prescott,  with 
Supplement  on  the  Cloister  Life  of  the  Emperor.  3  vols.  8vo. 
1856. 

History  of  the  European  States,  published  by  Ileeren  and  Ukert. 
64  vols.     8vo.      1829-58. 

The  series  includes  Italy,  by  H.  Leo;  Netherlands,  by  Van 
Kampen  ;  Denmark,  by  Dahlmann  (to  1523)  ;  Sweden,  by  Geijer 
and  Carlson  (to  1680)  ;  Poland,  by  Roepell,  etc. 

Heercn  :  Handbuch  d.  Gesch.  d.  europaisch.  Staatensystema  u.  seiner 
Colonien.  5th  ed.  Gottingen,  1830.  Engl.  Translation  by  Han- 
croft,  2  vol's.     8vo.     1829  ;  also,  2  vols.,  Oxford,  1884. 

VonRaumer:  Gesch.  Europas  seit  d.  Ende  d.  15.  Jahrh.     Leipzig. 
1832-50.     8  vols.     8vo. 
1  This  catalogue  comprises,  of  course,  only  a  fractional  pari  "f  the  historical 

literature  pertaining  to  the  subject.     Not  to  speak  of  work-  of  a  broader  -'"(><', 

there  are,  in   Germany  especially,    numerous   local    histories   relating   t<>   this 

period.     In  preparing  the  list  above,   care  has  been    taken   to   set  down   the 

proper  editions;  but  it  is  almost  imposible  to  attain  to  absolute  correctness  in 

these  particulars. 


068  APPENDIX. 

Hallam  :  Introduction  to  the  Lit.  of  Europe,  in  the  15th,  16th,  ai*<l 
1 7th  centuries.    5th  ed.     3  vols.     8vo.     1855-56. 

Ranke  :  Fiirsten  u.  Volker  v.  Siideuropa  im  16.  u.  17.  Jahrli.  Bd.  I. 
Berlin,  1827.  Die  rom.  P'apste,  ihre  Kirche  u.  ihr  Staat  im.  16. 
u.  17.  Jahrli.  3  vols.  4th  ed.  Berlin,  1854-57.  8vo.  Translated 
by  Sarah  Austin  :  History  of  the  Popes  of  Rome  during  the  16th 
and  17th  centuries.  4th  ed.  3  vols.  London,  1867.  8vo.  This 
is  one  of  the  most  correct  and  elegant  of  all  English  translations 
from  the  German.  The  work  itself  is  of  the  highest  value.  For 
Ranke's  other  works  on  this  period  see  under  the  different  coun- 
tries. 

L.  Hausser  :  Geschichte  d.  Zeitalters  d.  Reformation  (1517-1648). 
Berlin,  1868.  8vo.  Valuable,  especially  for  the  political  side  of 
the  history  of  this  period. 

Duruy  :  Hist,  des  Temps  Modernes.  1  vol.  Paris,  1863.  12mo.  One 
of  a  series  of  lucid  and  compact  text-books,  for  use  in  the  schools 
of  France. 

Bayle  :  Dictionnaire  historique  et  critique  (1st  ed.  1697),  4  vols.  Fol. 
Basel  and  Amsterdam,  1740.    Engl,  ed.,  10  vols.,  fol.,  1734-41. 

Bayle,  the  son  of  a  Huguenot  clergyman,  was  born  in  1647,  and 
died  in  1  706.  Under  the  influence  of  Jesuits,  he  became  a  Roman 
Catholic,  but  repented  of  this  change,  and  became  one  of  the  pio- 
neers of  philosophical  scepticism  in  Europe.  Its  great  amount  of 
interesting  historical  and  biographical  details,  though  requiring  to 
be  critically  sifted,  gives  to  his  Dictionary  a  peculiar  and  permanent 
value. 

Jniversal  Histories.  (1)  In  England:  by  W.  C.  Taylor,  Modern 
Hist,  1838;  new  ed.  1866;  Ancient  Hist.,  1839;  new  ed.  1867. 
By  A.  F.  Tytler,  1801,  and  in  numerous  later  editions.  W.  Rus- 
sell and  others,  History  of  Modern  Europe,  4  vols.  8vo.  1856. 
(2)  In  German//:  by  Schlosser,  19  vols.  1844-57;  by  H.  Leo,  6 
vols.,  Halle,  1849  seq. ;  by  Becker,  20  vols.,  1869  ;  by  Dittmar,  4th 
ed.  1866,  6  vols.;  by  Weber,  Leipzig,  1857  seq.,  9  vols.;  10th 
vol.  will  be  on  the  Era  of  the  Reformation.  (3)  In  Italy :  by 
Cesare  Cantu,  35  vols.,  8vo,  1837  seq.  French  transl.,  19  vols., 
8vo,  2d  ed.,  1854-55. 

Smyth:  Lectures  on  Modern  History,  Sparks'  Am.  ed.,  2  vols.,  1841. 

Guizot:  Lectures  on  the  History  of  Civilization  ;  English  transl.  by 
Henry.    8vo.     New  York,  1842. 

Hegel,  Philosophic  d.  Geschichte  ;  Werke,  ix.     Berlin,  1840.    8vo. 

General  Biographical  Works.  A.  Chalmers  :  Biographical  Dictionary. 
32  vols.  8vo.  1812-17.  Biographic  Universelle,  52  vols.,  8vo,  et 
supplement,  volumes  53  a  85.     Paris,  1811-62.     Nouvelle  edition, 


A   LIST    OF    WORKS   ON    THE   REFORMATION.  569 

revue,  corrige'e,  et  augmented,  45  vols.,  1812-65.  L'Art  de  verifier 
les  Dates  de's  faits  historiques,  etc.,  depuis  la  naissance  de  Jesus 
Christ  (to  1770).  18  vols.  8vo.  Paris,  1819.  Biographic  Gen- 
erate (nouvelle)  depuis  les  temps  les  plus  recules,  avec  le8  ren- 
seignements  bibliograph.,  etc.    46  vols.   8vo.     1857-66. 

Works  in  Ecclesiastical  History,  treating  of  the  Refor- 
mation as  A  WHOLE. 

Gieseler  :  Lehrbuch  d.  Kirchengsch.  Bd.  iii.  in  2  pts.  Bonn, 
1840-53.  8vo.  (The  4th  vol.  in  Prof.  H.  B.  Smith's  Engl,  trans- 
lation, New  York,  1862). 

H.  B.  Smith  :  History  of  the  Church  of  Christ  in  Chronological 
Tables.  NeAv  York,  1861.  Fol.  This  embodies  a  great  amount  of 
historical  information  within  a  brief  compass. 

Raynaldus:  Annales  Ecclesiastici.  (1195-1565.)  Colon.  1694.  9 
vols.  Fol.  Raynaldus  is  the  most  eminent  of  the  continuators  of 
Baronius,  and  a  representative  of  Roman  orthodoxy. 

Natalis  Alexander:  Historia  eccl.  V.  et  N.  Test.  (16  centuries). 
Paris,  1699.  8  t.  Fol.  Ed.  Mansi,  Ferrara,  1758.  Bassano,  1778. 
Natalis  is  the  champion  of  the  Galliean  ecclesiastical  theory. 

Hase  :  Kirchengsch.  (1  vol.)  Eng.  transl.  by  Blumenthal  and  Wing, 
New  York,  1856,  8vo.  Hase's  work  is  remarkable  for  its  conden- 
sation ;  it  is  founded  on  extensive  researches,  and  is  written  with 
much  vivacity. 

Baur:  Kirchengsch.  Bd.  iv.  Die  neuere  Zeit.  Leipz.,  1863.  8vo. 
Baur  is  one  of  the  most  perspicuous,  as  well  as  learned,  of  the 
German  Church  historians. 

Guericke:  Kirchengsch.,  Bd.  3.  9th  ed.  Leipzig,  1867.  8vo.  Guer- 
icke  treats  of  the  Reformation  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  strict 
Lutherans. 

Hardwick :  History  of  the  Christian  Church  during  the  Reforma- 
tion. 2d  cd.,  1865.  8vo.  Hardwick  writes  from  the  point  of  view 
of  the  Anglican  Church.  His  manual  is  full  in  its  references  to 
authorities. 

Merle  d'Aubigne :  Hist.de  la  Reformation  du  16me  Sieelc :  Trans- 
lated from  the  French.     (In  numerous  editions.) 

Bcausobre  :  Hist,  de  la  Reformation.    Berlin,  1786.     4  vols.    Sv<». 

Mosheim :  Institutions  Hist.  Eccl.  Helms t,  1764.  4to.  (Murdock'i 
Translation.) 

Schrockh  :  Kirchcngeschichtc  seit  d.  Reformation.  10  vols.  Leipzig, 
1804-1812. 

Kurtz  :  Kirchengsch.  English  Translation,  2  vols.  8vo.  Phila- 
delphia, 1871. 


57  0  APPENDIX. 

Niedner  :  Kirchengsch.  8vo.    Berlin,  1866.    One  of  the  most  learned 

and  valuable  of  all  the  German  manuals,  although  clumsy  in  its 

literary  execution.  i 

J.  I.  Bitter  (Boman  Catholic)  :  Kirchengsch.    6th  ed.   2  vols.    8vo. 

Bonn,  1862.     Moderate  and  candid  in  its  tone. 
Alzog   (Boman  Catholic)  :  Handbuch  d.  Kirchengsch.     8th  ed.     2 

vols.     Mainz,   1866-68.     This  is  written  in  a  truly  scientific  spirit. 
Riffel   (Roman  Catholic)  :  Kirchengsch.  d.  neuesten   Zeit  von   An- 

fang  d.  16.  Jahrh.     3  vols.    8vo.     Mainz,  1842-47. 
H.  Stebbing :  History  of   the   Reformation.    2  vols.     (In  Lardner's 

Cab.  Cyclopaedia)  1836.     Lond.     16mo. 
J.  Tulloch  :   Leaders  of  the  Reformation :  Luther,  Calvin,  Latimer, 

Knox.     8vo.     2d  ed.     Edinb.  1860. 
Stephen  :  Essays  in  Eccl.  Biography.     4th  ed.     1860.     Lond.     8vo. 
M.  J.  Spalding  (Roman  Catholic)  :  History  of  the  Reformation.    4th 

ed.    Baltimore,  1866.     8vo. 
The  two  great  Theological  Encyclopaedias  :  — 
Wetzer  u.  Welte,  (Roman  Catholic)  :  Kirchenlexicon  oder  Ency- 

klopadie  d.  kath.  Theologie.    12  vols.     Freiburg,  1847-56. 
Herzog   (Protestant)  :  Real-Encycl.  fur  protestantische  Theologie 

u.  Kirche.  21  vols. ;  and  Register,  1  vol.    Hamburg,  1854-68. 
These  copious  works  embody  the  results  of  German  Theological 

study,  apart  from  Biblical  criticism,  in  the  branches  of  the  Church 

to  which  they  severally  belong. 

Polemical  and  Critical  Writings. 

(1)  Roman  Catholic.  Maimbourg :  Hist,  du  Lutheranisme,  Paris, 
1680:  also,  Hist,  du  Calvinisme,  1682.  Bossuet :  Hist,  des  Vari- 
ations des  Eglises  Protest.,  Paris,  1688,  nouv.  ed.,  CEuvres  de  Bos- 
suet, tomes  v.  et  vi.  Paris,  1836,  8vo.  Varillas :  Hist,  des  Re- 
volutions arrivees  en  Matiere  de  Religion.  6  vols.  Paris,  1689. 
4to. 

Dollinger:  Die  Reformation,  ihre  innere  Entwickelung  u.  ihre  Wir- 
kungen.  3  vols.  Regensburg,  1848.  The  work  is  carried  no  farther 
than  the  "  Umfang  des  lutherischen  Bekenntnisses."  Dollinger's 
work  is  largely  a  collection  of  materials.  It  relates  chiefly  to  the 
defects  of  the  Reformers  and  of  their  work.  It  may  profitably 
be  compared  with  his  recent  Lectures  on  the  Reunion  of  the 
Churches  (Munich,  1872).  Balmes  :  Protestantism  and  Catho- 
licity compared  in  their  effects  on  Civilization.  Transl.  from  the 
Spanish.  8vo.  Baltimore,  1851.  An  elaborate  controversial  work  in 
reply  to  Guizot's  Lectures  on  Civilization,  by  a  Spanish  Priest. 
It  ends  with  the  sentence  :  "  As  soon  as  the  Sovereign  Pontiff,  the 


A   LIST    OF   WORKS   ON   THE   REFORMATION.  571 

Vicar  of  Jesus  Christ  upon  earth,  shall  pronounce  sentence  against 
any  one  of  my  opinions,  I  will  hasten  to  declare  that  I  consider 
that  opinion  erroneous,  and  cease  to  profess  it." 

Protestant.  Bayle  :  Critique  Generale  de  l'Histoire  du  Calvinisme  de 
Maimbourg,  Amsterdam,  1684.  3d  ed.  Hagenbach  :  Vorlesungen 
iiber  d.  Kirchengsch.  New  ed.  Leipz.,  1868,  seq.  (Chiefly  upon  the 
Ref.  in  Germany  and  Switzerland.)  Sehenkel  :  Das  Wesen  des 
Protestantismus.  2d  ed.  Schaffhausen,  1862.  8vo.  Hundeshagen  : 
Der  Deutsche  Protestantismus.  Frankfort.  8vo.  3d  ed.  1849. 
(Relating  especially  to  German  Protestantism,  but  with  a  more 
general  bearing.)  Roussel :  Les  Nations  Cath.  et  les  Nations  Prot. 
2  vols.     Paris.     8vo.     1854.     Polemical  against  Romanism. 

Villers  :  Essai  sur  l'Esprit  et  l'Influence  de  la  Ref.  de  Luther.  Paris, 
1804.     8vo.    Engl,  transl.,  Philadelphia,  1833. 

Laurent :  La  Reforme  (in  fitudes  sur  l'Histoire  de  l'Humanitd,  t. 
viii.).    8vo.     Brux,  1861. 

The  German  and  Swiss  (Zwinglian  and  Calvinistic)  Ref- 
ormation. 

Contemporary  Sources  for  both  Countries.  J.  Sleidan  (d.  1556): 
De  Statu  Religionis  et  Reipublicae,  Carolo  V.  Caesare,  Commenta- 
rii.  Folio.  Amsterdam,  1555 ;  best  ed.,  Frankfort,  1  785-6.  3  vols. 
8vo.  English  translation  by  Bohun,  London,  1689.  Folio.  3  vols. 
4to.     French  translation,  with  the  notes  of  Le  Courayer,  1767. 

Sleidan  was  born  at  Sleida,  near  Cologne,  in  1506.  After  com- 
pleting his  education,  he  lived  for  a  number  of  years  in  France, 
was  in  the  service  of  Francis  I.,  and  the  interpreter  of  his  embassy 
at  Hagenau  (1540).  In  1542,  he  entered  the  service  of  the  Smal- 
caldic  League,  and  in  1545  was  commissioned  by  it  to  write  a  his- 
tory of  the  Reformation.  He  accompanied  a  Protestant  embassy 
to  England;  went,  in  1551,  to  the  Council  of  Trent,  as  a  commis- 
sioner from  Strasburg,  and  in  1554,  in  the  same  capacity  t<>  the 
Conference  of  Nuremberg.  He  was  versed  in  literature,  law,  and 
political  science,  of  a  dispassionate,  judicial  temper,  ami  careful  in 
his  researches. 

Later  Authorities.  Abr.  Scultetus  (Prof,  at  Heidelberg;  d.  1624): 
Annalium  EvangeHi  passim  per  Europam  decimo  Bexto  Salutia 
parts?  scculo  renovati,  Decas  Let  II.  (from  1516—1536).  Heidel- 
berg, 1618-20.    Reprinted  in  V.d.  Ilanlt.  Hist,  liter.  Reformationis. 

Gerdesius  (Prof,  at  Groningen,  d.  1765):  Introd.  in  Hi>t.  Evangel. 
sec.  xvi.  passim  per  Enrbpam  renovati.  Groning.  i  74  I  52.  I  <>m. 
iv.  4to.  Also,  his  collection  of  documents  :  S.  rininni  Antiqua- 
rium,  etc.  Tom.  viii.     4to.     1 748-1 763. 


572  APPENDIX. 

More  recent  Works.  G.  Waddington  (Dean  of  Durham)  :  A  His- 
tory of  the  Reformation  on  the  Continent.  3  vols.  London,  1841. 
Extc  iding  to  the  death  of  Luther.  Hagenbach,  Vorlesungen,  etc. 
(see  above.) 

Chauffour-Kestner :  Les  Reformateurs  du  XVI.  Siecle:  Hutten;  Zwin- 
gli.     2  vols.     12mo.     2d  ed.     Paris,  1865. 

History  of  the  German  Reformation. 

Contemporary  Sources.  G.  Spalatinus  (d.  1545)  :  Annales  Refor- 
mations (published  by  Cyprian.     8vo.    Leipzig,  1718). 

Spalatin  was  born  in  1484,  and  died  in  1545.  He  was  court 
preacher  and  private  secretary  to  the  Electors  of  Saxony,  Frederic, 
John,  and  John  Frederic.  He  was  present  at  the  Diet  of  Augsburg 
in  1518,  at  the  election  of  Charles  V.  at  Frankfort,  in  1519,  at  his 
coronation  at  Cologne  in  1520,  at  the  Diet  of  Worms  in  1521,  at 
the  Diets  of  Nuremberg  in  1523  and  1524,  in  1526  at  Spires,  in 
1530  at  Augsburg,  in  1537  at  the  Convention  at  Smalcald,  and  at 
other  important  assemblies.  He  took  part  in  the  visitation  of 
the  Saxon  Churches.  He  was  an  intimate  friend  and  correspond- 
ent of  Luther,  Melancthon,  Bugenhagen,  and  the  other  Saxon  Re- 
formers. 

G.  Spalatin's  Historischer  Nachlass  u.  Briefe.  Bd.  i. :  Das  Leben  u. 
die  Zeitgeschichte  Friedrichs  des  Weisen.    8vo.     Jena,  1851. 

F.  Myconius  (d.  1546)  :  Hist.  Reformations  (by  Cyprian.  2d  ed. 
8vo.     Leipzig,  1718). 

Myconius  was  born  in  1491  and  died  in  1546.  He  was  held  in 
high  esteem  by  Luther  and  Melancthon,  and  efficiently  cooperated 
with  them  in  their  work. 

Ph.  Melancthon  :  Hist.  Vitae  Mart.  Lutheri.  (Preface  to  Lutheri 
Opp.  Lat.,  Vitemberg,  1546  ;  and  in  separate  editions.) 

J.  Mathesius  (d.  1564):  Historie  von  D.Martin  Luther's  Anfang, 
Lehren,  Leben,  etc.  (in  27  sermons)  4to.     Ntirnberg,  1566. 

Mathesius  became  a  student  at  Wittenberg  in  1528,  and  lived 
for  a  time  in  Luther's  family.     He  died  in  1564. 

J.  Camerarius :  De  Phil.  Melanethonis  Ortu,  totius  Vita?  Curriculo  et 
Morte,  etc.    8vo.     Leipzig,  1566. 

Camerarius  was  born  in  1500  and  died  in  1574.  He  was  a  pupil 
of  Luther  and  Melancthon,  and  was  especially  attached  to  the 
latter. 

Cochlaeus  (Rom.  Cath.,  d.  1552)  :  Commentaria  de  Actis  et  Scriptis 
M.  Lutheri,  etc.  (from  1517-1546).  Mogunt.,  1549;  Paris,  1565; 
Cologne,  1568. 

Cochlseus  was  an  active  polemic.  He  was  at  the  Diet  of  Augs- 
burs  in  1530. 


A  LIST   OF   WORKS   ON   THE   REFORMATION.  573 

Surius  (Rom.  Cath.,  d.  1578)  :  Comment,  brevis  Rerura  in  Orbe  Qe»- 
tarum  ab  anno  1500  usque  1566.     Cologne,  1567. 

Collections  of  Documents.  LosCHER  :  Vollstandigen  Reformations-acta 
a.  documenta  (from  1517-1519).     3  vols.    4to.    Leipzig,  1720-29. 

Tentzel:  Hist.  Bericht  v.  Anfang  a.  Fortgang  d.  Ref.  Luth.  (by  Cyp- 
rian. Leipzig,  1718).  Kapp:  Kleine  Nacblese  zur  Ref.  Gsch. 
niitzlicher  Urkunden.  Leipzig,  1727.  Strobel :  Miscellaneen  u. 
Beitrage  zur  Lit.  Niirnb.,  1 7  75  seq.,  1 784  seq.  Forstemann:  Archiv. 
fur  die  Gsch.  d.  Ref.,  Halle,  1831  seq. ;  neues  Urkundenbueh,  Ham- 
burg, 184  2.  Neudecker  :  Urkunden  aus  d.  Ref.-Zeit,  Cassel,  1836  ; 
Merkwiirdige  Actenstiieke  aus  der  Zeitalt.  d.  Ref.,  Numb.  1838; 
Neue  Beitrage  zur  Gsch.  d.  Ref.     2  vols.    Leipzig,  1841. 

O.  Schade:  Satiren  u.  Pasquille  a.  d.  Ref.-Zeit.  Hannov.  1856-8 
(3  vols.).  Johannsen  :  Die  Entwickl.  d.  prot.  Geistes  e.  Sammlong 
d.  wichtigsten  Dokumente  v.  Worms.  Edict  b.  z.  Sp.  Prot.  Copen- 
hagen, 1830.  H.  van  d.  Hardt :  Historia  Literaria  Uefbnnationis. 
Franc,  and  Leipzig,  1717. 

Works  of  the  Reformers:  Luther's  Works  :  Wittenberg  ed.,  the  Ger- 
man, 1539-1559,  12  vols.,  fol.  ;  the  Latin,  1545-1558,  7  vols.,  fol. ; 
Jena  ed.,  the  German,  8  vols.,  fol. ;  the  Latin,  4  vols.,  fol.,  1555-1558 
(from  the  autographs,  except  the  first  part  of  the  German  works)  ; 
Altenburg  ed.,  the  German  works  alone,  10  vols.,  1661-1664.  Sup- 
plement, vol.  to  all  the  earlier  edd.,  by  Zeidler,  Halle,  1702. 
Leipzig  ed.,  22  vols.,  fol.,  1729-1740.  Halle  ed.,  by  J.  G.  Walch 
(the  most  complete),  24  Thle.,  1740-1750.  In  the  last  two  of 
these  edd.,  Latin  works  only  in  a  German  transL  Erlangen  ed., 
by  Plochmann  u.  Irmischer,  G7  vols.,  1826-185  7.  Die  reforma- 
torischen  Schriften  Luthers  in  chronol.  Folge,  edited  by  K.  Zim- 
mcrmann.  4  vols.  Darmstadt,  184G-50.  Vollstandige  Auswahl  Lu- 
ther's Hauptschriften,  by  Otto  von  Gerlach,  1840-1848.  24  vols. 
(Fabricius,  Centifolium  Luth.  s.  notitia  literaria  seriptorum  de 
Luthero  editorum,  Hamburg,  1728.)  Luther's  Briefe,  Send- 
schreiben  u.  Bedenken,  edited  by  De  Wetie,  (i  vols.  1825  56. 
Luther's  Briefwechsel,  a  supplem.  vol.,  by  Burkliardt  (1866). 
Melancthon's  Works:  Basel.  1541.  5  vols.  Fol.  C.  Peucer'a  ed., 
Wittenberg,  15G2,  4  vols.,  ibl. ;  Bretschneider'a  ed.  (in  the  Corpus 
Reformatorum),  1834-1860,  28  vols.,  It... 
Historical  Works.  Seckendorf  (d.  1692)  :  Commentarius  Historical 
et  Apologeticus  de  Lutheranismo,  libb.  iii.  ed.  _'.     Leipzig,  1694. 

Seckendorf  was  born  in  [626,  and  died  L692.     He  was  educi  I 
at  StrasbUrg.     Under  the  Duke  of  Gotha,  Duke  Maurice  of  2 
and  the  Elector  Frederic  III.  of  Brandenburg,  lie  held  responsible 
olliees.     He  was  a  statesman  of  thorough  education  and  of  exenv 


574  APPENDIX. 

plary  integrity.  His  History,  which  was  occasioned  by  the  work 
of  the  Jesuit  Maimbourg,  was  founded  on  the  most  industrious 
examination  of  original  documents. 

Salig :  Vollstandige  Hist.  d.  Augsb.  Confession  u.  derselb.  Apologie 
(1517-1562).     3  Th.     Halle.  1730-1745. 

Planck  :  Gscli.  d.  Entstehung,  d.  Veranderungen,  u.  d.  Bildung  uns. 
prot.  Lehrbegriffs  b.  z.  d.  Concordienformel.  6  vols.  2  ed.  Leip- 
zig, 1791-1800.  Woltmann  :  Gsch.  d.  Ref.  in  Deutschland.  3  Th. 
Altona,  1801-1805. 

Spieker :  Gsch.  Dr.  M.  Luthers  u.  der  durch  ihn  bewirkten  Kireh- 
enref.  in  Deutschl.     1  vol.   (to  1521).     Berlin,  1818. 

Marheineke:  Gsch.  d.  deutsch.  Ref.  4  Th.  Berlin,  1816-34  (a 
second  ed.  of  Parts  1  and  2,  1831).  This  is  still  one  of  the  best 
of  the  histories  of  the  German  Reformation.  Ch.  Villers  :  Essai 
sur  l'Esprit  et  l'lnfluence  de  la  Ref.  de  Luther.  Paris,  1804  : 
translated  into  German,  2ded.,  182S,  and  into  English,  Phil.,  1833. 

K.  A.  Menzel :  Neuere  Gsch.  d.  Deutschen  v.  d.  Ref.  b.  z.  Bundes- 
acte.  Breslau,  1826-39.  Translated  into  English,  3  vols.  8vo. 
London,  1849. 

Kohlrausch :  Geschichte  Deutschlands.     Engl,  transl.     8vo.     1848. 

L.  Ranke  :  Deutsche  Gsch.  im  Zeitalter  d.  Reformation.  7  vols., 
4th  ed.,  1869.  Translated  in  part,  by  Sarah  Austin.  3  vols.  8vo. 
1845-4  7. 

K.  Hagen  :  Deutschland's  literar.  u.  relig.  Verh'altnisse  im  Ref.  Zeit- 
alter. 3  vols.  Erlangen,  1841-44.  D.  F.  Strauss  :  Ulrich  von  Hut- 
ten.  2d  ed.,  1871.  Ward:  House  of  Austria  in  the  Thirty  Years' 
War.  London,  1869.  Trench:  Gustavus  Adolphus  in  Germany, 
and  other  Lectures  on  the  Thirty  Years'  AVar.  2d  ed.,  1872. 
Droysen:   Leben  von  Gustav.  Adolf.     1868. 

Lives  of  the  German  Reformers.  Melchior  Adamus  :  Vitae  German- 
oruin  Theologorum,  etc.  Heidelberg,  1620.  Ulenberg  (a  Protes- 
tant, then  a  Catholic,  d.  1617):  Vitae  haeresiarcharum  Lutheri, 
Melancthonis,  Majoris,  Illyrici,  Osiandri.  Colon.,  1589.  Lives  of 
Luther  :  by  Mei.ancthon  ;  by  Mathesius  (see  above)  ;  by  Walther, 
Jena,  1704-54,  2  Th. ;  by  Keil,  Leipzig,  1753,  4  Th. ;  by  Ukert, 
Gotha,  1817,  2  Th. ;  by  Jakel,  1840;  by  Jurgexs  [up  to  1517,] 
Leipzig,  1846  seq.,  3  vols.;  by  Gelzer,  with  Konig's  illustrations, 
Hamburg,  1847-51  (translated,  London  and  New  York,  1857);  by 
Stang,  Stuttgart,  1835-8;  by  Pfitzer,  Stuttgart,  1836;  by  Genthe, 
Halle,  1841-45;  by  Wildenbaln,  Leipzig,  1850-2,  4  Th.  ;  by  Led- 
derhose,  Speir,  1836  ;  by  Meurer.  Dresden,  3d  ed.,  1870  ;  by  Dbl- 
linger  (from  the  Kirehenlexicon),  translated,  London,  1851  ;  by 
Audin,  Paris,  2  vols.,  translated,  Phil.,  1841  ;  a  storehouse  of  calum- 


A   LIST    OF    WORKS    ON   THE   REFORMATION.  575 

nies;    by  Miciielet,  translated  from   the   French,  in   Bohn'a   Li- 
brary; Hare,  Vindication  of  Luther  against  hia  English  a 
ants.     1854.     This  is  a  Reply  to  Sir  Win.  Hamilton  (Discussioaa 

in  Philosophy  and  Literature);  also,  to  Hallam,  to  J.  II.  New- 
man, and  W.  G.  Ward.  The  charge  of  "  Rationalism  "  and  other 
imputations  against  Luther  are  fully  considered,  and  various  mi- 
takes  of  Hamilton  are  exposed.  Lives  of  Luther  in  English  : 
by  Riddle  (London,  1837);  by  J.  Scott  (New  York.  1838);  by 
H.  Worsley,  London,  1856-7;  by  Barnas  Sears.  1850.  8vo.  F. 
G.  Hofman,  Katharina  von  Bora,  Leipzig,  1845.  8vo. 
Lives  of  Melancthon  :  by  Camerarius  (see  above)  ;  Als  Praeceptor 
Germanise,  by  A.  II.  Niemeyer,  Halle,  1817;  by  Facius,  1882; 
by  Galle,  Charakteristik  Melancthons,  2d  ed.,  Halle,  1845;  by 
Matthes,  1841  ;  Leben  u.  Wirken  Phil.  Mel..  Altenb.,  2d  ed.  1846; 
by  Ledderhose  (translated  by  G.  F.  Krotel,  New  York,  L854)  ;  by 
Cox,  London,  1815,  Boston,  1835.  Leben  u.  ausgewahlte  Schriften 
d.  Vater  u.  Begriinder  d.  luth.  Kirche,  1861  seq.  :  Melancthon,  by 
C.Schmidt;  Brenz,  by  J.  Ilartmann  ;  Urbanus  Rhegius,  by  G. 
Uhlhorn  ;  Justus  Jonas,  by  Cruciger;  P.  Speratus,  L.  Spengler,  N. 
v.  Amsdorf,  Paul  Eber,  M.  Chemnitz,  D.  Chry tarns,  by  I  Vessel. 

The   History   of  the    Swiss  (Zwingliax  and  Calvinistic) 
Reformation. 

Contemporary  sources.  B.  Weiss  (d.  1531)  :  Kurze  Besehreibung  d. 
Glaubensanderung  ini  Sehweizerlande  (in  Fiisslin's  Beitrage,  iv.  82). 
V.  Anshelm  :  Berner  Chronik  bis  1526  (Berne,  L825-38).  II.  Bri.- 
linger  (d.  1575)  :  Reformationsgeschichte  (to  1532).  Frauenfeld, 
1838-40.  Bullinger  was  born  in  1504,  succeeded  Zwingle  ;it  Zurich 
in  1531,  and  died  in  1575.  He  was  one  of  the  most  distinguished 
of  the  Reformers  of  his  age,  and  an  entirely  trustworthy  writer.  J. 
Salat  (Catholic),  Valentin  Tsehudi  (Catholic).  Bgidius  Tschudi 
(Catholic)  :  authors  of  works  extant  in  manuscripts:  See  (\\~ 
iv.  i.  1.  Fromment  :  Les  Actes  et  les  Gestes  de  la  Cite*  de 
Geneve.  Geneve,  1536.  8vo.  Fromment  was  a  Frenchman,  an  as- 
sociate of  Farel,  and  one  of  the  first  to  preach  Protestantism  in 
Geneva.  Later  in  life,  he  was  deposed  from  the  ministry  and  held 
the  office  of  Notary.  His  Chronicle  covers  the  period  from  L532 
to  1536,  and  is  a  trustworthy  narrative. 

Original  Documents.     Work-  of  the  Reformers:  see  below.     Miscel- 
lanea Tigurina.   3Th.    Zurich,  1722-24.    J.C.  FiissUn  :  Beitr 
Erl'aut.  d.  Kirchen-Reformationsgesch. d.  Schweizerlandes.    Zurich, 
1741-53.     Ejusd.  Epistolas  ab.   EccL   Helvet.  Keformatoril 
ad  eos  scripta;.     Tiguri,  17-12.     J.J.  Simler:    Sammlung  alter  u. 


576  APPENDIX. 

neuer  Urkunden  z.  Beleuchtung  d.  Kirchengesch.  vornehmlich  des 
Schweizerlandes.     Zurich,  1767. 

Works  of  the  Reformers.  U.  Zwinglii  opera,  first  complete  ed.  by 
Schuler  and  Sckulthess,  8  vols.  Zurich,  1828-42.  J.  Calvini, 
opera  theologica,  12  vols.,  Geneva,  1556;  9  vols.,  Amsterdam, 
1667  ;  new  ed.  by  Baum,  Cunitz,  and  Reuss:  Bruns.  1863  seq.  (to 
1871,  10  vols.).  English  translation  of  Calvin's  Writings,  52  vol- 
umes, Edinburgh,  1842  seq.  Letters  of  Calvin,  edited  by  Bon- 
net :  English  translation,  2  vols.,  Edinburgh,  1856-5  7. 

Historical  and  Biographical  Works.  J.  H.  Hottinger  (d.  1667)  :  Hist. 
Eccl.  1655-57.  J.  J.  Hottinger  (d.  1735)  :  Hist.  d.  Ref.  in  d.  Eidge- 
nossenschaft.  4  Th.  Zurich,  1708.  Basnage  :  Hist,  de  la  Religion 
des  Eglises  Reform  :  a  la  Haye  (1690),  1721,  4to.  A.  Ruchat  : 
Hist,  de  la  Reformation  de  la  Suisse.  6  vols.  Geneva,  1727  seq.  L. 
Wirz  :  Neuere  helvet.  Kirchengeschichte.  2  vols,  (to  1523)  ;  the 
second  by  M.  Kirchhofer,  1813,  1819.  Hess:  Ursprung,  Gang  u. 
Folgen  d.  durch  Zwingli  in  Zurich  be wirkten  Glaubensverbesserung 
u.  Kirchenreform.  Zurich,  1819.  J.  v.  Muller  u.  R.  G.  Blotzheim  : 
Geschichte  schweize.rischer  Eidgenossenschaft.  continued  by  J.  J. 
Hottinger  (to  1531).  Zurich,  1825  and  1829.  Gaberel :  Hist. 
de  l'Eglise  de  Geneve,  2  vols.,  1853.  D'Istria  :  La  Suisse  Alle- 
mande.  Switzerland,  the  Pioneer  of  the  Ref.,  2  vols.  London, 
1858.  Hundeshagen  :  Zur  Charakteristik  Zwinglis,  etc.  Studien 
u.  Kritiken,  1862.  Mignet:  Mcmoires  Hist.  3d  ed.  Paris,  1854. 
It  contains  an  Essay  on  Calvinism  in  Geneva.  Mosheim :  Neue 
Kachr.  von  Servet ;  also,  Ketzergsch.,  ii.  (1748).  Charpenne  : 
Histoire  de  la  Reforme  de  Geneve.     8vo.     1861. 

Lives  of  Zwingle  :  by  Myconius  (see  above)  ;  by  J.  G.  Hess,  Engl. 
transl.,  by  L.  Aiken,  1812,  and  translated  from  the  French  into 
the  German,  with  an  added  Appendix,  by  L.  Usteri,  1811  ;  by  J. 
M.  Schuler,  1819  ;  by  Roeder,  1855  ;  by  J.  Tiehler,  1827  ;  by  Rob- 
bins,  Bib.  Sacra,  vols.  ii.  and  iii. ;  by  Christoffel  (in  the  Leben 
u.  Ausgewahlte  Schriften  d.  Vater  u.  Begriinder  d.  reformirten 
Kirche),  1857;  by  J.  C.  Morikofer,  2  vols.,  1867.     8vo. 

Life  of  Beza,  by  Schlosser,  1809;  by  Baum,  1843,  1852.  Bertold 
Ilaller,  oder  die  Reformation  von  Bern,  by  M.  Kirchhofer,  Zurich, 
1828.  Lebensgesehichte  von  Oekolampadius,  by  Hess.  Zurich, 
1793  ;  by  Herzog,  2  vols.,  Basle,  1843  ;  Das  Leben  Wilh.  Farels,  v. 
M.  Kirchhofer,  2  vols.  Zurich,  1831.  Lives  of  Farel,  Fromment, 
Viret,  by  Cheneviere,  Geneve,  1835.  Life  of  Farel,  by  Schmidt. 
Strasburg,  1834.  Life  of  Viret,  by  Jaquemont.  Strasbourg,  1836. 
In  the  series,  entitled,  Leben  u.  Ausgewahlte  Schriften  d.  Viiter 
u.  Begrunder  d.  ref.   Kirche  :    Zwingle,  by  Christoffel  ;   Oecolam- 


A   LIST    OF   WORKS   ON    THE   REFORMATION.  .',77 

padius  and  Myconius,  by  Hagenbach  ;  Calvin,  by  Stahelin  ;  Capito 
and  Buccr,  by  Baum ;  Bullinger,  Haller,  and  Leo  Juda,  by  Peste- 
lozzi;    Capito  and  Beza,  by  Heppe ;    Peter  Martyr,  by  Schmidt, 

1859;  Olevanius  and  Ursinus,  by  Sudhoff,  1858  ;  Farel  and  Yir.-t, 
by  C.  Schmidt;  Vadian  and  Blaurer,  by  Pressel;  Knox,  by 
Brandes. 
Lives  of  Calvin,  by  Beza,  translated  by  Gibson,  Fhila.,  1836;  by 
Waterman,  London,  1813;  by  T.  Smyth,  Phil.,  1885;  l.v  Dtbb, 
London,  1849,  8vo ;  by  Audin,  5th  ed.,  Paris,  1851  ;  by  Henry,  S 
vols.,  Hamburg,  1835-1844,  translated  into  English  by  Stabbing, 
1844;  by  Stahelin,  1863;  by  Bungener,  2d  ed.,  12mo,  1863;  by 
Guizot  (St.  Louis  and  Calvin)  ;  by  Kampschulte  (Roman  Cath- 
olic), vol.  i.,  1869. 

The  Reformation  in  Denmark,  Norway,  axd  Sweden. 

Tn  Heeren  u.  Ukert's  Staatengeschichte :  Danemark,  by  Dahlmann. 
Harald  Hurtfeld  :  Diinische  Chronik.  Copenhagen,  1604.  J.  Baez  . 
Inventarium  Eccl.  Sueco-Gothor.  Lincop.,  1642.  4to.  Celsius: 
Gsch.  Gustav.  I.,  from  the  Swedish.  Copenhagen  and  Leipzig,  1754. 
Pontoppidax  :  Annales  Ecclesiae  Danicae.  Copenhagen,  1741. 
Also,  Reformationshistorie  d.  dan.  Kirche,  1734.  Miintcr  :  Kirch- 
cngsch.  v.  Dan.  u.  Norw.  1823-33.  Also,  Danske  Reformations- 
historie. Copenhagen,  1802.  Schinmeier  :  Lebensbeschreib.  d.  drei 
schwed.  Reformatoren.  Liib.,  1783.  Troil :  Skrifter  ocb  Ilandlingar 
till  uplisning  i.  Svenska  Kyrko  och  Reformations-IIistoria.  Upsala, 
1790.  Thyselius :  Handlingar  till  Sverges  Reformations  och 
Kyrkohistoria  under  Konung  Gustaf  I.  (1523-61).  Stockholm, 
1841-45.  By  the  same,  author  :  Einfuhrung  d.  Ref.  in  Schweden  bis 
1527  (in  Zeitschr.  f.  hist.  Theol.  1846).  Rimer:  IV  Gustavo  L 
rer.  sacr.  in  Suecia  instauratore.  Ultraj,  1840.  A.  Theiner :  Xw- 
suche  d.  heilig.  Stuhls  in  d.  letzten  drei  Jahrh.,  den  Norden  wieder 
mit  d.  Kirche  zu  vereinen.  Augsburg,  1838.  Miinter  :  Symbols  ad 
illustrand.  Bugenhagii  in  Dania  Commorationem.  Ilavn.,  1836.  By 
the  same  :  De  Confutatione  latina  qua?  Apologia?  Evangelicor.  in 
Comitiis  Havemensib.  anno  1530,  traditffl  opposita  est.  Barn., 
1847.  L.  Helvig :  Danske  Kirkeshistorie  after  Reformationen. 
Copenhag.,  1851.  Dunham:  Hist,  of  Denmark,  Sweden,  and  Nor- 
way (in  Lardner's  Cab.  Cycl.,  1840).  J.  Finnius:  Ili-t.  Ecclei 
Islandise,  1772-8.  4  vols.  4to.  G.L.Baden:  Hist,  of  Denmark, 
5  vols.  Copenhagen,  1829-32.  Gki.ikk  :  Bistory  of  Sweden, 
translated  by  Turner.  8vo.  1845.  Anders  Tryxell:  U\>t.  of 
Sweden,  translated  and  edited  by  Mary  Howitt.  London,  1844. 
37 


578  APPENDIX. 

The  Reformation  in  Bohemia  and  Moravia. 
A.  Gindely:  Bohmen  u.  M'ahren  im  Zeitalt.  d.  Reformation  (2  vols.). 
Prague,  1837.  Gsch.  d.  bohniischen  Briider.  Prague  (2  vols.). 
1857  seq.  Czerwenka  :  Gsch.  d.  evangel.  Kirche  in  Bohmen.  2 
vols.  8vo.  Leipzig,  1869-70.  Pescheck  :  Gsch.  d.  Gegenvu- 
format.  in  Bohmen  (2  vols.),  2d  ed.  Leipzig,  1850.  The  Refor- 
mation and  Anti-Reformation  in  Bohemia.  2  vols.  London,  1845. 
Ehwalt:  Die  alte  u.  neue  Lehre  d.  bohm.  Briider.  Dantzig,  1756. 
K.  A.  Miiller :  Fiinf  Biicher  vom  bohmisch.  Kriege.  Dresden, 
1840.  Tomek:  Geschichte  Bohmens.  Palacky  :  Bohmens  Ge- 
schichte.  Vols.  1-5.  1836-67.  8vo.  .  Niemeyer  :  Collectio  Con- 
fessionum,  pp.  771-851. 

The  Reformation  in  Poland. 

Regenvolsctus  :  Syst.  hist.  Chron.  Eccl.  Slavonicarum.  Ultraj, 
1652.  4to.  Lubienicius  :  Hist.  Ref.  Polon.  Freist.  1685.  Schiek- 
sale  d.  pol.  Dissidentium  (3  vols.).  1768  seq.  Salig :  Historic  d. 
Augsb.  Confession,  ii.  515.  Friese :  Kirchengeschichte  d.  Konig- 
reichs  Polen  (2  Th.).  Breslau,  1786.  8vo.  Krasinski  :  History  of 
the  Reformation  in  Poland  (2  vols.).  8vo.  London,  1840;  by  the 
same :  Sketch  of  the  Religious  History  of  the  Slavonic  Nations. 
Edinburgh,  1851.  Dunham:  History  of  Poland  (in  Lardner's 
Cab.  Cycl.).  1841.  N.  A.  de  Salvandy  :  Hist,  de  Pologne  avant 
et  sous  J.  Sobieski.  2  vols.  Svo.  Paris,  1855.  J.Fletcher:  His- 
tory of  Poland,  London.  1831.  J.  Lelevel:  Histoire  de  Pologne. 
2  vols.  Paris,  1844.  8vo.  R.  Roepell :  Gsch.  von  Polen.  Ham- 
burg, 1841.     Fasti  Polonici,  1624  seq.,  Breslau,  1854. 

The  Reformation  in  Hungary  and  Transylvania. 

Ribinus:  Memorab.  Aug.  Conf.  in  Hungaria.  2  vols.  Presb.,  1787. 
J.  Burius  :  Hist.  Dipl.  de  Statu  Relig.  evang.  in  Hung.  1710.  Fol. 
Salig  :  Gsch.  d.  Augsb.  Conf.,  ii.  803.  [P.  Ember]  :  Hist.  Eccl.  Kef. 
in  Hung,  et  Transyl.,  ed  Lampe,  Traj.  1728.  4to.  PeterfFy  :  Sacra 
Concil.  Eccl.  Romano-Cathol.  in  Regno  Hung,  celebrata,  mxvi. 
usque  ad.  a.  mdccxxxiv.  2  vols.  Fol.  Vienna,  1742.  Schmal  : 
Monuincnta  Evangel.  Aug.  Confessionis  in  Hungaria  historica.  8vo. 
Pesth.  1861.  Memorab.  August.  Confessionis  in  Regno  Hung. 
de  Ferdinando  I.  usque  ad  Carolum  VI.  2  vols.  1786-9.  Svo. 
Kurze  Gsch.  d.  evang.  luther.  Kirche  in  Ungarn  vom  Aufange  d. 
Ref.  bis  Leopold  II.  G6ttingen,1794.  8vo.  Diewichtigsten  Scliick- 
sale  d.  evang.  Kirche  Augsb.  Bekennt.  in  Ungarn  von  J.  1522  bis 
1608.     Leipzig,  1828.     Hist.  Eccl.  Evang.  Aug.  Confessioni  addic- 

•» 


A   LIST    OF   WORKS   ON    THE   REFORMATION.  57^ 

torum  in  Hung.,  etc.  Halberstadt,  1830.  Mailath  :  Gsch  d.  Mag- 
jaren.  5  vols.  8vo.  1820-30;  2d  ed.,  1852-55.  L.  Szalay  :  Hist. 
Hungar.  (to  1G90).  5  vols.  8vo.  Gsch.  d.  evang.  Kirche  in 
Ungarn,  mit  Riicksicht  auf  Sicbenbiirgen,  Berlin,  1854.  History  of 
Protestantism  in  Hungary,  with  Preface  by  Dr.  M.  d'Aubigne, 
London,  1854.  M.  Horvath :  Gsch.  Ungarns.  2  vols.  8vo.  Pesth, 
1854.  J.  Paget  :  Hungary  and  Transylvania.  2  vols.  8vo.  Lon- 
don, 1839.  J.  A.  Fessler:  Gsch.  d.  Ungarn.  10  vols.  8vo. 
Leipzig,  1815-25.  De  Sary :  Hist.  Generate  de  Hongrie.  2  vols. 
12ino.  Paris,  1778.  G.  Haner :  Hist.  Eccless.  Transylvan.,  1694. 
12mo.  I.  Benko:  Transylvania,  P.  L,  Tom.  ii.  (Vindob.  1778. 
8vo),  p.  121  (lib.  iv.,  c.  12,  De  Statu  Ecclesiastico). 

The  Reformation  in  France. 

Documents  and  Contemporary  Works.  Beza  :  Ili-t.  Eccl.  dea  Eglises 
Ref.  au  Royaume  de  France  (to  1563).  3  vols.  Antwerp,  1580. 
8vo. 

Serrarius  (or  De  Serres)  :  Comment,  de  Statu  Relig.  et  RespubL  in 
Regno  Gallia;  (5  parts),  1570  seq. 

F.  Belcarius  (Beaucaire  de  Peguillon,  Bishop  of  Metz)  :  Ilistoria  (ial- 
lica  (1561-G7).  Lugd.,  1625.  Fol.  Tiiuanus  :  Hist,  sui  Temporia, 
etc.     (See  above.) 

Theod.  Agpippa  d'Aubign^:  Histoire  Universale  (1550-1601). 
Maille,  1616-20.     3  vols.    Fol. 

He  was  born  in  1550,  and  died  in  1630.  The  son  of  a  devoted 
Huguenot,  he  fought  in  the  siege  of  Orleans,  when  he  was  only  thir- 
teen years  old.  He  was  for  a  while  an  intimate  associate  of  Henry 
IV.  After  writing  this  work,  he  resided  in  Geneva.  lie  was  a 
man  of  high-toned  character,  deeply  imbued  with  the  religious  feel- 
ings peculiar  to  the  Huguenots. 

Memoires  d'Agrippa  d'Aubigne.     1  vol.     12mo.     Paris,  1854. 

A.  L.  Hepmin.j  apd  :  Correspondance  des  Reformat  ems  dans  le* 
Pays  de  la  Langue  Francaise.     Vols.  1-3.    1866-68-70. 

Bulletin  de  la  Societd  pour  l'Histoirc  du  Prot.  Francais  (since  1850 
It  includes  many  documents  illustrative  of  this  period.) 

Du  Plessis  Mornay:  Memoires  et  Correspondance.     Paris,  1824  5. 

Petitot  :  Memoirea  relatifs  a  I'Histoire  de  France  (1st  series,  1819 
26.     52  vols.      8VO.      2d  series,  1820-29.      78  vols.      8vo.) 

Among  the  works  embraced  in  this  collection  are  the  Memoirs  of 
Bouillon,  vicomte  de  Turenne  (from  1555-1584) :  He  was  grandson 
of  the  Const.  Montmorenci ;  was  converted  to  Calvinism,  and  was 
an  adherent  of  Henry  IV.  Gamon  (1560-86).  Mergey  (1556-49)  : 
he  was  born  in   1536;  he  was  at  St.  Quentin  (1557),  at  Dreux 


580  APPENDIX. 

(1562),  and  at  Moncontour ;  and  barely  escaped  the  massaore  of  St. 
Bartholomew.  Philippi  (1562-90).  Rabutin  (1551-59).  Saint 
Aubau  (1572  seq.).  Tavannes  (1560-96)  :  he  was  born  'in  J555; 
fought  for  the  League  at  Ivry  ;  then  served  Henry  IV.  He  -died 
in  1633.  Villeroi  (1622-23).  Du  Bellay  :  L'Estoile  (1589-lo..0). 
Sully:  Memoires.  6  vols.  8vo.  Paris,  1827.  Sully,  the  Prime 
Minister  of  Henry  IV.,  was  born  in  1559,  and  died  in  1641.  La 
Noue  (1562-70):  he  was  born  in  1531  ;  took  Orleans  in  1567; 
fought  at  St.  Quentin,  Jarnac,  and  Moncontour  ;  served  Henry  IV. 
with  distinction.  Montluc :  he  was  born  about  1502;  was  at  the 
battle  of  Pavia  (1525)  ;  took  Boulogne  (1547);  defended  Sienna 
(in  1554,  under  Henry  II.)  ;  took  part  in  the  siege  of  Rochelle 
(1572).  He  was  noted  for  his  vigor  and  cruelty.  Castelnau  (1559- 
70)  :  he  was  born  about  1520;  was  at  the  siege  of  Rouen  and  at 
Dreux ;  was  employed  by  Henry  n.,  Charles  IX.,  and  Henry  in. 
He  was  several  times  ambassador  in  England.  He  accompanied 
Mary,  Queen  of  Scots,  to  Scotland,  and  befriended  her  afterwards. 
Journal  de  Henri  III.  (1574-89). 

Collection  de  Documents  Inedits  sur  l'Histoire  de  France  [published 
by  order  of  Louis  Philippe].     Paris,  1835  seq. 

Recueil  des  Lettres  Missives  de  Henry  IV.  7  vols.  4to.  [In  the 
above  collection.]     Paris,  1843-58. 

Buchon  :  Collection  des  Chroniques  et  Memoires  sur  PHistoire  de 
France,  faisant  partie  de  la  Collection  du  Pantheon  Litteraire. 
1824  seq. 

Michaud  :  Nouvelle  Collection  des  Memoires  pour  servir  a  l'Histoire 
de  France  depuis  le  XIIIe  siecle  jusq'  a  la  fin  du  XVIIIe.  3 
Series.     34  vols.     Paris,  1836  seq. 

Archives  Curieuses  de  l'Hist.  de  France  depuis  Louis  XI.  jusqu'  a 
Louis  XVIII.     27  vols.     8vo.     En  deux  series.     Paris,  1834-40. 

Brantome :   (Euvres   Completes.     7  vols.     8vo.     Paris,  1822. 

Brantome  was  born  about  1527,  and  died  in  1614.  He  was  cham- 
berlain of  Charles  IX.  and  Henry  III.  He  is  a  gossiping  chron- 
icler ;  but  his  works  present  a  vivid  portraiture  of  his  time.  Among 
them  are  the  "  Vies  des  Hommes  Illustres,"  "  Dames  Illustres  Fran- 
daises  et  Etrangeres,"  etc. 

Historical  Works.  General  Histories  of  France,  by  Anquetil ;  by 
Sismondi ;  by  Miciielet  ;  by  Henri  Martin;  by  Crowe.  5 
vols.  London,  1858-68.  The  Student's  History  of  France,  8vo, 
1862. 

Ranke:  Franzbsische  Geschichte  vornehmlich  im  16.  u.  17.  Jahrh. 
6  vols.  8vo.  1868.  Engl,  trans.  Hist,  of  Civil  Wars  and  Mon- 
archy in  France.     8vo.     London,  1852. 


A   LIST   OF   WORKS   ON   THE   REFORMATION.  S  1 

W.  Haag  :  La  France  Prot.  ou  Vies  des  Prot.   Francais.     10  torn. 
8vo.     1847-59. 

G.  WfeflER  :  Geschichtl.  Darstellung  d.  Calvinism,  im  Verhiiltniss  z. 
Str-.it  in  Genf  u.  Frankreich.     Heidelb.,  1836,  8vo. 

Von  Raumer :    Gscli.  Europas  seit  dem    Ende  d.  15.  Jahrh.     (See 
above.) 

Capefigue  :  Hist,  de  la  Reforme,  de  la  Ligue,  et  du  Regne  de  Henry 
IV.     8  tomes.     Paris,  1834-5.     8vo. 

Elie  Benoist :  Hist,  de  l'fiditde  Nantes.    5  vols.    4to.    Delft,  1693-5. 

Ken-man:    Frankreich's   Religios-  u.   Biirgerkriege   im    16.  Jahrh. 
Leipzig,  1828.     8vo. 

De  Felice  :  Hist.  d.  Protestants  de  France.  4th  ed.  1861.  8vo. 
Engl,  transl.  by  Lobdell,  1851.  Soldan  :  Gscli.  d.  Protest,  in 
Frankreich.  2  vols.  1855.  8vo.  Von  Polenz  :  Gsch.  d.  f'ranz. 
Protestantismus.  5  vols.  1858  seq.  8vo.  W.  S.  Bkowmm;  :  His- 
tory of  the  Huguenots  in  the  16th  Century.  3  vols.  8vo.  1829-39. 
Smedley  :  History  of  the  Reformed  Religion  in  France.  3  vols. 
12mo.  London,  1832.  (New  York,  1834.)  [Mrs.  Mausii  :]  His- 
tory of  the  Huguenots.  2  vols.  1847.  8vo.  Ch.  Brion  :  Liste 
chronolog.  de  I'Histoire  Protest,  en  France  jusqu'  a  la  Revoc:it.  de 
l'fidit  de  Nantes.  2  vols.  12mo.  1855.  Anquez  :  Hist.  d.  Assem- 
blers Polit.  des  Reformees  de  France  (1573  to  1622).  8vo.  Paris, 
1859.  Aymon  :  Tous  les  Synodes  nation aux  des  Eglises  reformes, 
etc.  La  Have,  1710.  2  vols.  4to.  Quick:  Synodicon  in  Gallia 
reformata,  etc.  1682.  2  vols.  Fol.  W.  Anderson :  Hist,  of 
France  during  the  Reigns  of  Francis  II.  and  Charles  IX.  2  vols. 
London,  1769.  Lacretelle :  Hist,  de  France  pendant  les  Guerrea 
de  Religion.  4  vols.  8vo.  1822.  Morlky:  Clement  Ifaroi 
and  other  studies.  2  vols.  8vo.  1870.  Due  D'AUM am:  :  Lives 
of  the  Princes  of  Conde.  Vols.  1,  2.  8vo.  London,  1872. 
H.  White  :  Massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew,  preceded  by  a  narrative 
of  the  religious  wars.  London,  1868.  Klipffel:  Le  Colloqoe  de 
Poissv.  12mo.  Brussels  and  Paris,  1867.  Villemaln :  Vie  de  Chan- 
cellor d'  Hopital  (in  Etudes  d'Histoire  Moderne.  l  vol. 
1854.)  Voltaire:  Siecle  de  Louis  XIV.  (CEuvres,  t.  \.\ii.)  Cape- 
figue: Trois  Siecles  de  rilist.de  France,  1548  L848.  2  vols.  L852. 
8vo.  C.Schmidt:  Gerard  Roussel.  1846.  8vo.  Puaux:  Hist  de 
la  Reforme  Francaise.  2  torn.  Paris,  1857-9.  V.  de  Chalembert, 
Hist,  de  la  Ligue,  Henri  III.  ef  IV.  2  vols.  1854.  8vo.  Aug.  Thein<  r: 
Hist,  de  1' Abjuration  de  Henri  IV.  2  vols.  1852.  Byo.  C. 
Sehmidt:  La  Vie  et  les  Travaux  de  Jean  Sturm.  iv">.">.  s\".  P. 
W.  Ebeling :  Sieben  Bucher  d.  franz.  Gsch  Bd.i.1865.  Anquetil: 
L'Espritde  la  Ligue.  2  vols.  8vo,   Paris,  1818.    Davila:  Storiadelle 


582  APPENDIX. 

Guerre  Civili  di  Francia.  6  vols,  in  7.  London,  1801.  Engl,  transl., 
by  Farneworth.  2  vols.  4to.  London,  1801.  Duncan  (J.)  :  Re- 
ligious Wars  in  France,  from  the  Accession  of  Henry  II.  to  the 
Peace  of  Vervins.  12nio.  London,  1840.  Schiller  (J.  C.  F.  von)  •' 
Gsch.  d.  Unruhen  in  Frankreich  welche  d.  Regierung  Heinrich 
IV.  vorangingen.  8vo.  Stuttgart,  1844.  S.Scott:  Life  of  T.  A. 
d'Aubigne:  an  Account  of  the  Civil  Wars,  etc.  8vo.  London 
1772.  Voltaire:  Essai  sur  les  Guerres  Civiles  de  France.  8vo. 
Paris,  1785.  Pardoe  (J.)  :  The  Court  and  Reign  of  Francis  I.  2 
vols.  12mo.  Phil.,  184  7.  Freer  (M.  W.)  :  Court  and  Times  of 
Henry  III.  3  vols.  12mo.  London,  1858.  Bassompierre :  Mem. 
de  la  Cour  de  France.  2  vols,  in  1.  lGmo.  Cologne,  1666.  Freer  : 
History  of  the  Reign  of  Henry  IV.  2  vols.  12mo.  London,  1860- 
63.  G.  P.  R.  James  :  Life  of  Henry  IV.  3  vols.  8vo.  London, 
1847.  Maimbourg  :  Hist,  de  la  Ligue.  4to.  Paris,  1657.  Weiss: 
Hist,  des  Refug.  Prot.  de  France  [after  the  Revocation  of  the  Edict 
of  Nantes].  2  vols.  Paris.  1853.  Coquerel :  Les  Eglises  du 
Desert  chez  les  Prot.  de  France  [after  Louis  XIV.].  2  vols."  8vo. 
1841.  Muret :  Hist,  de  Jeanne  d'Albret.  Paris,  1861.  Sir  James 
Stephen  :  Lectures  on  the  Hist,  of  France.  3d  ed.  2  vols.  8vo. 
1857.  Laval  :  Hist,  of  the  Ref.  in  France.  7  vols.  8vo.  1737  seq. 
Laurent  :  Guerres  de  Religion.  Gen  in  :  Lettres  de  Marguerite 
d'Angouleme  (1841);  also,  Nouvelles  Lettres  de  la  Reine  de  Navarre 
(1842).  Stahelin  :  Der  Uebertritt  Konig  Heinrichs  d.  vierten. 
8vo.  Basel,  1862.  Wraxall :  Memoirs  of  the  Kings  of  the  Race 
of  Valois.  2  vols.  8vo.  1807;  Hist,  of  France  from  the  Accession 
of  Henry  III.  to  the  Death  of  Louis  XIV.  2d  ed.  1814.  6  vols. 
8vo.  Reuchlin:  Geschichte  von  Port  Royal.  2  Bd.  1839  seq. 
SainteBeuve:  Port  Royal,  5  vols.  2d  ed.  8vo.  1860.  Le  Saint- 
Barthelemy  devant  le  Senat  de  Venise  :  relations  des  ambassadeurs 
G.  Michiel  et  S.  Cavalli.  Trad,  et  annot.  par  W.Martin.  18mo. 
1872. 

The   Reformation  in  the  Netherlands. 

Gachard:  Correspondance  de  Guillaume  le  Taciturne,  Prince  d'Or- 
ange,  publiee  pour  la  premiere  fois,  etc.  6  vols.  8vo.  1847-58. 
Also,  by  the  same,  Correspondance  de  Philippe  II.,  sur  les  Affaires 
des  Pays-Bas  [from  the  Archives  of  Simancas].  4  vols.  4to. 
1848-59. 

Groen  van  Prinsterer  :  Archives  ou  Correspondance  ine'dite  de 
laMaison  d'Orange-Nassau    [1552-1584].    10  vols.    8vo.    1857-61. 

Le  meme:  2C  serie  [1584-1688].     6  vols.     8vo.     1857-61. 

Graxvelle  :  Papiers  d'lStat,  d'apres  les  Manuscrits  de  la  Bibliotheque 
de  Besancon.  9  vols.  4to.  1841-61.  In  the  Collection  des  Docu- 
ments Inedits  sur  1'Histoire  de  France.     Paris,  1835  seq. 


A   LIST    OF    WORKS   ON   THE   REFORMATION.  588 

Brandt:  Hist,  der  Reformatio  in  en  omtrent  de  Nederlanden. 
Amst.,  1693  seq.  4  vols.  4tov  Engl,  transl.,  London,  1720.  4  vols. 
Grotius:  Annales  et  Hist,  de  Rebus  Belgicis,  1556-1609.  Gerdesius: 

Hist.  Ref.,  etc.  (See  above).  Ypey  en  Dermout :  Geschiedenissen 
der  JSTederland.  hervonnde  Kerk.  Breda,  1819-27.  4  vols.  8vo. 
Van  Meteren  :  Hist,  der  Nederlanden,  13G9-1612.  Ter  Har:  Die 
Ref.  Gsch.  in  Schilderungen.  8vo.  A.  Koklcr :  Die  niederl.  ref. 
Kirclie.  Erlangen,  185G.  8vo.  G.  Bentivoglio  :  Delia  Guerra  di 
Fiandra  [1559-1607].  Milano,  1806.  Engl,  transl.  4to.  London, 
1678.  Stkada  :  De  Bello  Belgico.  2  vols.  Fol.  1640-47.  Engl, 
transl.  by  Stapylton  :  Fol.  London,  1650.  Schiller  :  Abfall  der  Nie- 
derlande.  8vo.  Stuttgart,  1844.  Eng.  transl.,  by  Morison.  2  vols. 
12mo.  London,  1851.  Van  Kampen  :  Geschichte  der  Niederlande, 
2  vols.  8vo.  1831-33.  Motley:  Rise  of  the  Dutch  Republic.  3 
vols.  8vo.  New  York,  1856.  History  of  the  United  Netherlands. 
4  vols.  8vo.  New  York,  1861.  Holzwarth  :  Der  Abfall  dor 
Niederlande,  3  vols.  8vo.  1866-72.  Prescott  :  History  of  Philip 
IT.  3  vols.  8vo.  1855.  Th.  Juste  :  Hist,  de  la  Revol.  des  Paya- 
Bas.  sous  Phil.  II.  (1555-72).  2  vols.  8vo.  1855;  Hist,  du  sou- 
levement  des  Pays  Bas  contre  la  domination  espagnole  (1572-76). 
2  vols.  8vo.  1862-63  ;  Les  Pays  Bas  sous  Charles  Quint  —  Vie  de 
Marie  de  Hongrie  (1505-58).  8vo.  1855.  Basnage:  Annales  des 
Provinces-Unis  (1719).  H.Leo:  Zwolf  Biicher  der  oiederland. 
Geschichte.  2  vols.  1832-45.  Koch :  Untersuchungen  uber  die 
Emporung  u.  den  Abfall  d.  Niederlande  von  Spanien.  1  vol.  8vo. 

The   Reformation  in  England. 

Documents  and  Contemporary  Sources.  Works  of  THE  REFORM- 
ERS, published  by  the  Parker  Society,  Cambridge,  1841-64  (54 
vols.,  with  a  general  index),  comprising  the  writings  of  Ridley, 
Sandys,  Pilkington,  R.  Hutchinson,  Philpot,  Grindal,  T.  Becon, 
Fulke,  Hooper,  Cranmer,  Coverdalc,  Latimer,  .Jewel.  Bradford, 
Whitgift;  together  with  the  Zurich  Letters  (1st  and  2d  Beries), 
Original   Letters  (2  vols.),  The  Correspondence  of  M.  Parker,  etc. 

The  State  Calendars,  now  being  published,  under  the  direction 
of  the  Master  of  the  Rolls. 

Ryiner :  Foedera,  Conventiones,  Literss,  etc.,  inter  Reges   An 
al.  Reges,  Pontifices,  etc.     Sd  ed.     10  vols.     Fol.     1789   15. 

Rushworth:  Historical  Collections  (1618-1648).  8  vols.  FoL  Lon- 
don,  1721. 

Fox:  Acts  and  Monuments  of  the  Church,  or  Book  of  Martyrs,  15G3. 
Fol.      1G84.     3  vols.      Fol.      1837-41.     8  vols.     8vO. 

Ellis:  Letters  illustrative  of  English  History.  1st  series.  3  vols.  8vo. 
1824 ;  2d  series.     4  vols.     8vo.     1827. 


584  APPENDIX. 

Wilkins :  Concilia  Magnae  Brittaniae  et  Hiberniae  (446-1717).  4  vols. 
Fol.  1736-7. 

E.  Card  well:  Documentary  Annals  of  the  Church  of  England  (1546- 
1716).  2  vols.  8vo.  Oxford,  1844.  By  the  same:  Synodalia 
1547-1717  (relating  to  the  province  of  Canterbury).  2  vols.  8vo. 
Oxford,  1842.  By  the  same  :  The  Reformation  of  the  Laws  as 
attempted  in  the  reigns  of  Henry  VIII.,  Edward  VI.,  and  Eliza- 
beth.   Newed.    Oxford,  1850. 

Formularies  of  Faith  put  forth  under  the  reign  of  Henry  VTQ.  Ox- 
ford, 1856.     8vo. 

W.  Maskell :  Monumenta  Ritualia  Eccl.  Anglicanae.  3  vols.  8vo. 
1846-7. 

Holinshed:  Chronicle  of  Englande,  Scotlande,  and  Ireland,  1577.  2 
vols.    Fol.    1807-8.     6  vols.   4to. 

General  Histories.  By  Ranke  :  Engl.  Geschichte  vornehmlich  in  sieb- 
zenten  Jahrh.  9  vols.  8vo.  Leipzig,  1870.  By  Carte  (to  1654), 
1747  seq. ;  by  Kennet  (to  the  death  of  William  III.),  3  vols.,  fol., 
1719  ;  by  Macaulay  (from  the  accession  of  James  I.,  with  a  hist. 
Introduct.  5  vols.  8vo.  1849  seq.)  Macaulay's  introductory 
chapter  includes  a  brief  account  of  the  rise  and  character  of  Prot- 
estantism in  Great  Britain.  His  Reviews  of  Ranke  and  of  Hallam 
(in  his  collected  Essays)  relate  in  part  to  the  Reformation.  By 
Mackintosh  (to  the  14th  year  of  Elizabeth's  reign  ;  continued  by 
W.  Wallace,  and  then  by  R.  Bell);  10  vols.  12mo.  1838.  By 
Hume.  Hume's  negligence  in  examining  and  reporting  author- 
ities, his  inaccuracy,  his  partiality  for  the  Stuarts,  and  his  frigid 
tone  with  regard  to  questions  of  morals  and  religion,  are  now  con- 
ceded ;  as  are,  also,  the  excellence  of  his  style,  and  his  sagacity  as 
an  economist.  By  Lingard  (Roman  Catholic).  Lingard  is  an 
able  and  well-informed  writer,  but  with  strong  Anti-Protestant  prej- 
udices. By  Knight,  8  vols.,  8vo,  1868;  by  T.  Keightley,  3  vols.,  8vo, 
1839;  by  J.  Miller  (to  1688),  4th  ed.,  4to,  London,  1818;  by  Tur- 
ner (to  the  death  of  Elizabeth),  12  vols.,  8vo,  1839;  by  Froude 
(from  the  Fall  of  Wolsey  to  the  defeat  of  the  Spanish  Armada),  12 
vols.,  8vo,  New  York,  1865  seq.;  by  F.  L.  G.  Raumer:  Political 
History  of  England  during  the  16th,  17th,  and  18th  centuries,  2 
vols.,  8vo,  London.  183G  ;  by  Oldmixon  :  History  of  England  during 
the  Reign  of  the  Stuarts.  2  vols.,  fol.,  London,  1730;  by  Vaughan  : 
History  of  England  under  the  House  of  Stuart  (1603-1688),  2  vols., 
8vo,  London,  1840  ;  by  the  same  :  Memorials  of  the  Stuart  Dynasty, 
2  vols.,  8vo,  London,  1831 ;  by  Clarendon  :  Hist,  of  the  Great  Re- 
bellion (1641-60),  3  vols.,  fol.,  Oxford,  1702-4.  By  F.  S.  Thomas: 
Historical  Notes  relative  to  the  History  of  England,  from  the  acces- 


A   LIST    OF   WORKS    ON    THE    REFORMATION.  585 

sion  of  Henry  VIII.  to  the  death  of  Anne  (1509-1714),  designed  m 

a  book  of  instant  reference  to  dates.  3  vols.  8vo.  1858.  Camden: 
Annales  Rerum  Anglic,  et  Hibernic  regnante  Elizabeths  (to  1589) 
1615seq.  1717.  3  vols.  8vo.  Oxford.  Life  OP  Col.  Hutchin- 
son, by  his  wife  (Bohn's  Stand.  Lib.)j  1846.  Pepys  :  Diary  and 
Correspondence.  4  vols.  8vo.  1854.  Evelyn:  Diary  (from  1641 
1705-6),  ed.  Forster.  4  vols.  8vo.  1860.  Harris :  Lives  of 
James  I.,  Charles  I.,  Cromwell,  Charles  II.  5  vols.  8vo.  1814. 
Godwin,  History  of  the  Commonwealth.  4  vols.  8vo.  1824-28. 
R.  Vaughan  :  the  Protectorate  of  Cromwell.  2  vols.  8vo.  1839. 
Buckle:  Hist,  of  Civilization  in  England,  new  ed.  3  vols. 
1867.  Strickland  :  Lives  of  the  Queens  of  England.  8  vols.  8vo. 
1850-54  ;  new  ed.  12mo,  1865.  Lives  of  the  Queens  of  Scotland, 
8  vols.    8vo.     1850-59. 

Hallam  :  Const.  History  of  England.  3  vols.  8vo.  1867.  This  is 
the  most  successful  of  Hallam's  historical  writings.  It  is  thorough 
and  impartial  in  its  treatment  of  religious  parties  and  persons,  and 
specially  instructive  on  the  legal  and  constitutional  questions  in- 
volved in  the  history  of  the  Reformation. 

Carlyle  :  Life  and  Letters  of  Cromwell.  2  vols.  8vo.  New  York, 
1845.  This  has  contributed  more  than  any  other  work  t<»  raise  the 
reputation  of  Cromwell  in  recent  times,  and  to  vindicate  him  against 
the  imputation  of  insincerity. 

Guizot:  Histoire  de  Charles  ler  (1625-1649),  6C  e'dition.  2  vols. 
8vo.  1856.  Hist,  de  la  Republique  d'Angleterre  et  de  Cromwell 
(1649-1658).  2  vols.  8vo.  1854.  Hist,  du  Protectorat  de  K. 
Cromwell  et  du  Rdtablissement  des  Stuart  (1658-60).  2  vols.  Bvo. 
1856.  Monk;  Chute  de  la  Republique  et  le  Re*tablissemen1  de  la 
Monarchic  en  Angleterre  en  1660.  6e  ed.  8vo.  1862.  History 
of  the  English  Revolution  of  1640  (transl.  by  Hazlitt,  London.  L846. 
1  vol.  8vo.  1856;  by  Coutier,  Oxford,  1 838)  ;  History  of  Crom- 
well, the  Commonwealth,  and  the  Restoration.  1  vols.  s\,(.  Lon- 
don, 1854-6. 

Histories  of  the  English  Reformat  ion.  BuRNET  :  The  History  of  the 
Reformation  of  the  Church  of  England.  London,  L679  seq.  7  vols. 
1829.     8vo. 

Burnet  is  an  honest  writer,  with  extraordinary  means  of  knowl- 
edge, but  sometimes  swayed  by  prejudice.     "  It  Is  usual,"  say?  M 
caulay  (Hist,  of  Engl.,  i.  163),  "to  censure  Burnel  as  a  singularly 
inaccurate  historian,  but  I  believe  the  charge  to  be  altogether  unjust. 
He  appears  to  be  singularly  inaccurate  only  because  hi-   Dan 
has  been  subjected  to  a  scrutiny  singularly  severe  and  unfrii  ndly." 

Strype  :  Ecclesiastical  Memorials  relating  chiefly  to  Religion  an  i 


586  APPENDIX. 

the  Reformation  of  it,  and  the  Emergencies  of  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land under  King  Henry  VIII.,  King  Edward  VI.,  and  Queen  Mary. 
3  vols.  London,  2d  ed.  1725-37.  Brief  Annals  of  the  Church 
and  State,  under  the  Reign  of  Queen  Elizabeth.  London,  2d  ed. 
1738.  Fol.  The  Complete  Works  of  Strype.  27  vols  8vo.  Ox- 
ford, 1821-40. 

Strype  is  the  authority  most  frequently  consulted  and  quoted  in 
works  on  the  English  Reformation.  He  is  a  veracious  writer ;  his 
own  statements  are  instructive  and  valuable,  and  the  documents 
which  he  publishes  are  still  more  so.  Occasional  inaccuracies  in 
copying  citations,  arising  from  a  want  of  care,  do  not  essentially 
detract  from  his  merit.  On  these  inaccuracies,  pointed  out  by  Mait- 
land,  see  the  London  Athenasum,  1858,  i.  404. 
J.  Collier  (a  non-juring  Bishop)  :  Ecclesiastical  History  of  Great 
Britain,  to  the  Death  of  Charles  II.  2  vols.  Fol.  London,  1708-14. 
9  vols.  8vo.  1846.  Dodd  (Roman  Catholic),  in  his  Church  His- 
tory of  England  (1500-1688).  3  vols.  Fol.  1737  seq.  :  new  ed., 
1839  seq.  Dodd's  work  was  designed  as  an  antidote  to  Burnet. 
H.  Soames :  History  of  the  Reformation  of  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land. 4  vols.  8vo.  1826-27;  by  the  same  :  Elizabethan  Church 
History,  London,  1848,  Svo.  By  J.  V.  Short:  Sketch  of  the  His- 
tory of  Church  of  England  to  the  Revolution  of  1688.  2  vols. 
8vo.  1832:  8th  ed.,  1870.  By  F.  C.  Massixgberd  :  History  of 
the  English  Reformation,  4th  ed.,  1867,  8vo.  J.  H.  Blunt:  His- 
tory of  the  Reformation  to  the  death  of  Wolsey  (1514-47).  Svo. 
London.  1872.  I.  J.  Blunt :  Sketch  of  the  Reformation  in  England. 
26th  ed.  1869.  J.  A.  Baxter  :  Church  History  of  England.  2d  ed. 
London,  1849.  8vo.  By  Peter  Heylin  :  History  of  the  Reformation 
of  the  Church  of  England.  Fol.  1661  seq.  Carwithen  :  History  of 
the  Church  of  England.  2  vols.  2d  ed.  Oxford,  1849.  8vo.  Neal  : 
History  of  the  Puritans  from  the  Reformation  to  the  death  of  Queen 
Elizabeth,  1  732  seq.  4  vols.  8vo;  Toulmin'sed.,  1793  seq.,  5  vol?., 
8vo;  Choules's  Am.  ed.,  2  vols.,  8vo,  New  York,  1844.  J.  B. 
Marsden  :  History  of  Earlier  and  Later  Puritans.  2  vols.  Svo. 
London,  1852.  S.Hopkins:  The  Puritans.  3  vols.  Boston,  1859- 
60.  S.  R.  Maitland  :  Essays  on  Subjects  connected  with  the  British 
Reformation.  1849.  Svo.  Fuller  :  Church  History  of  Britain  from 
the  Time  of  Christ  to  1648.  Fol.  1655.  6  vols.  Svo.  London,  1845. 
Lathbury  :  History  of  the  Nonjurors.  Svo.  1845.  T.  Lathbury  : 
History  of  English  Episcopacy,  from  the  Long  Parliament  to  the 
Act  of  Uniformity.  8vo.  London,  1836.  Brennan  :  Ecclesiastical 
History  of  Ireland  to  1829.  2  vols.  Svo.  Dublin,  1848.  R. 
Mant  :  History  of  the  Church  of  Ireland  from  the  Reformation  to 


A   LIST    OF   WORKS   ON    THE    REFORMATION.  587 

the  Revolution.     2  vols.     8vo.     London,  1841.     Rees:    History  of 
Protestant  Nonconformity  in   Wales.      Bvo.      1861.     Hardwtck: 
History  of  Articles  of  Religion.     New  ed.     1859.     8vo.     T.  Lath- 
bury  :  History  of  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer.    2d  ed.    1858.    W. 
Keeling:  Liturgiae  Brittanicse.     8vo.    2d  ed.     1851.     W.  Palmer: 
Origines   LiturgicaB.     4th   ed.     2  vols.     8vo.     1845.     Tdlloch  : 
English  Puritanism  and    its   Leaders:  Cromwell,  Milton,  Baxter, 
Bunyan.    8vo.    London,  1861.     Fletcher :  History  of  the  Indepen- 
dents.    4  vols.     l2mo.    1862.    Hook :  Lives  of  the  Archbishops  ol 
Canterbury.     New  series.     3  vols.     (Vol.8.     Ref.  period.      1869. 
8vo.)      Stoughton:    Ecclesiastical    History  of   England    [Civil 
Wars,  Commonwealth,  Restoration].   4  vols.    8vo.    1867   7".    1!   •.- 
bury:  Ecclesiastical  Memorials  relative  to  the   Independent 
vols.    8vo.    London,  1839.   J.  Waddington :  Congregational  Church 
History  from  the   Reformation  to   1662.     London,    1862.      IIi.wi  : 
History  of  Religious  Thought  in  England.    8vo.    Vbl.i.,  1870.    \'ol. 
ii.,  1871.   J.  Waterworth :  Historical  Lectures  on  the  Reformation 
in  England. 
Biographies.     Stiiype  :  Lives  of  Cranmer,  Parker,  Grindal,  Whitoift, 
Aylmer,  Cheke,  and  Smith.     W.Gilpin:   Life  of  Cranmer.   1784. 
8vo.    Lives  of  the  Reformers.   1809.     2  vols.     8vo.     Told:    Life 
of  Cranmer,  1831.    Le  Bas  :  Life  of  Jewel.     8vo.     1835.     Life  of 
Laud.     8vo.     1836.     C.Wordsworth:   Eccl.  Biography,  or  Lives 
of  Eminent  Men  in  England,  from  the  Commencement  of  the  B    . 
to  the    Revolution.     4th  ed.     4   vols.     8vo.      1853.      B.  F.  Tytler, 
Life  of  Henry  VIII.     12mo.     New  ed.     1851.     Lord    Herbert: 
Life  and  Reign  of  Henry  VHI.   Fol.  1649  seq.    1770.    ito.    Fiddes: 
Life  of  Wolsey,  4  vols.    8vo.   1  71 2. 

The  Reformation  in  Scotland.     Contemporary  Sources. 

Woduow   Society's   Publications.     24  vols.    8vo.    Comprising 
Calderwood's  Hist,  of  the  Kirk  of  Scotland,  8  vols.;   Autobiogra- 
phy of  Robert  Blair  (from  1593   1636);  Scott's  Apologetical  Nar- 
ration  (from   15G0— lGo.3) ;  Twedie'a   Select    Biographies,  2 
and  other  works. 

Spottiswoode  Society  Publications.  16  vols.  8vo.  Comprising 
Keith's  History  of  the  Affairs  of  Church  and  State  in  Scotland  from 
the  Beginning  of  the  Ref.  to  1568;  The  Spottiswoode  Miscellany 
(2  vols.),  etc. 

John  Knox  :  Historic  of  the   Reformation  of  Religioun   within  the 
Realme  of  Scotland,  in  V.  Books;  with   his  life   by   David    Bu- 
chanan.    Edinb.   1584.     Ed.  by  David  Laing  (with  other  wri 
of  Knox),  184G  seq.     1  vols.    8vo. 


588  APPENDIX. 

Bannatyne  [Secretary  of  Knox]  :  Journal  of  Transactions,  etc.  1570- 
73.     Edinb.  1806. 

Spottiswoode :  History  of  the  Church  of  Scotland.    8vo.     3'  vols,  (by 
the  Wodrow  Soc). 

Labanoff :  Lettres,  Instructions,  et  Memoires   de  Marie  Stuart,  etc. 
7  vols.     8vo.     London,  1844. 

A.  Teulet:  Lettres  de  Marie  Stuart,  publiees  avec   sommaires,  etc. 
8vo.     1859. 

A.  Teulet :  Relations  Politiques  de  la  France  et  de  l'Espagne  avec 
l'Ecosse  en  16e  Siecle.     Papiers  d'Etat,  etc.     5  vols.  Paris,  1862. 

G.  Buchanan  :  Rerum  Scotic.  Hist.    Edinb.,  1582.    Fol.    In  English, 
1690.     Fol. 

R.  Baillie  :  Letters  and  Journals  [on  the  period  from  1637-1662],  new 
ed.  3  vols.    8vo.  Edinb.,  1841-2. 

Sir  James  Balfour:  Annales  (105  7-1640),  and  Memorials  and  Pas- 
sages of  Church  and  State  (1641-1652).  4  vols.     Edinb.,  1824. 

J.  Lesly  (Bp.  of  Ross)  :  A  Defence  of  the  Honor  of  Mary,  Queen  of 
Scotland.     London,  1569.     8vo.     1570.     8vo. 

G.  Buchanan  :  A  Detection  of  the  Doings  of  Mary,  Queen  of  Scots, 
etc.     Circa  1572. 

Later  Works.  W.  Robertson  :  History  of  Scotland  during  the 
reigns  of  Mary  and  James  VI.,  etc.  (in  numerous  editions).  G. 
Stuart  :  Hist,  of  the  Establishment  of  the  Ref.  of  Rel.  in  Scotland 
(1517-1561).  4to.  London,  1780.  Hist,  of  Scotland  from  the  Es- 
tabl.  of  the  Ref.  to  the  Death  of  Mary.  2  vols.  4to.  London,  1782. 
W.  M.  Hetherington  :  Hist,  of  the  Church  of  Scotland  (new  ed.) 
2  vols.  8vo.  1853.  T.  McCrie  :  Life  of  John  Knox,  1812.  8vo. 
Newed.  1854.  8vo.  4  vols.  (Works  of  McCrie.  8vo.  1855.)  Life 
of  Andrew  Melville.  2  vols.  Svo.  1819.  2d  ed.  London.  184  7.  8vo. 
T.  McCrie,  Jr. :  Sketches  of  Scottish  Church  History.  2d  ed.  1843. 
8vo.  A.  Stevenson :  History  of  the  Ch.  and  State  of  Scotland 
from  the  Accession  of  Charles  I.  to  the  Restoration.  1844.  Svo. 
J.  Cunningham  :  Ch.  Hist,  of  Scotland  to  the  Present  Time.  2  vols. 
Svo.  1859.  Lee  :  Lectures  on  the  Hist,  of  the  Ch.  of  Scotland. 
2  vols.  8vo.  Edinb.,  1860.  J.  Scott :  Lives  of  the  Reformers  in 
Scotland.  Edinb.  1810.  Von  Rudloff  :  Gsch.  d.  Ref.  in  Schottland. 
2  Th.  Berlin,  1849.  A.  Gamberg  :  Die  schottische  nat.  Kirche. 
Hamb.,  1827.  K.H.  Sack  :  Die  evang.  Kirche  Schottlands.  Heidelb., 
1844.  G.  Cook  :  Hist,  of  the  Ref.  in  Scotland.  3  vols.  Edinb.,  1811. 
Burton:  Hist,  of  Scotland  to  1688.  7  vols.  Lond.,  1867-70 ;  1689- 
1748.  2  vols.  1870.  P.  F.  Ty tier  :  History  of  Scotland  [1149-1603], 
newed.  10  vols.  Svo.  1866.  Laing  :  Hist,  of  Scotland  from  the 
Accession  of  James  I.  to  the  Reign  of  Queen  Anne.    1819.  4  vols. 


A   LIST    OF    WORKS    ON   THE   REFORMATION. 

8vo.  Lawson  :  The  Episcopal  Church  of  Scotland  from  the  Refor- 
mation to  the  Revolution.  2  vols.  Svo.  1844.  Mignet :  Histoire  de 
Marie  Stuart.  2  vols.  12mo.  Paris,  1854.  W.  Ty tier :  Inquiry,  His- 
torical and  Critical,  into  the  Evidence  against  Mary,  Queen  of 
Scots,  etc.  2  vols.  8vo.  London,  1790.  J.  Hosaek :  Mary,  Queen 
of  Scots  and  her  Accusers.  2d  ed.  2  vols.  Svo.  1870.  Leland  : 
History  of  Ireland  from  the  Invasion  of  Henry  II.  to  1G88.  8 
vols.     4to.     17  73. 

The  Reformation  in  Italy. 

Gerdesius  :  Specimen  Italise  Ref.    Lugd.  Bat.,  1765.    4to. 

McCrie:  Hist,  of  the  Ref.  in  Italy.  Svo.  1827.  New  ed.  1855.  D. 
Erdmann  :  Die  Ref.  u.  ihre  M'artyrer  in  Italien.  Berlin,  1855. 
Jules  Bonnet:  Vie  de  Olympia  Morata.  4mc  ed.  Paris,  1865. 
Muratori :  Annali  d'ltalia,  dal  Principio  dell'  Era  volgare  fino  all' 
anno  1750.  12  vols.  8vo.  Rome,  1752-54.  Guicciardini :  Storia 
d'ltalia.  10  vols.  Pisa,  1819-20.  Hiibner:  Lite  of  Sixtus  V. 
2  vols.  8vo.  1872.  Brieger  :  Gaspar  Contarini  [on  the  Ratisbon 
Conference].  Gotha,  1870.  M.Young:  Life  of  Paleario.  2  vols. 
8vo.  London,  1860.  Sixt :  Petrus  Paulus  Vergerius,  p'apstlicher 
nuntius,  etc.  1855.  J.  Bonnet:  Aonio  Paleario,  Etude  sur  la  Re- 
forme  en  Italic  12mo.  1862.  Roscoe  :  Life  of  Leo  X.  6th  ed.  2 
vols.  8vo.  1846.  Audin:  Histoire  de  Leon  X.  2  vols.  8vo. 
Paris.    3d  ed.     2  vols.  8vo.    1851. 

The   Reformation  in  Spain. 

Reformistas  Antiguos  Espanoles.  20  vols.  8vo.  London  and 
Madrid,  1848-63.  This  collection  of  the  writings  of  Spanish  Prot- 
estants was  printed  at  the  cost  of  B.  B.  Wiffen.  It  may  be  found 
in  the  Boston  Public  Lib. ;  also  in  the  Library  of  Harvard  College. 

A.  F.  Biisching :  Comm.  de  Yestigiis  Lutheranismi  in  Bispania. 
Gbttingen,  1755.  4to.  McCrie:  Hist,  of  the  Ref.  in  Spain.  Svo. 
1829.  New  ed.  1855.  De  Castros  :  The  Spanish  Prot.  and  their 
Suppression  by  Philip  II.  Translated  by  T.  Parker.  London, 
1851.  Sanctae  Inquisitionis  Artes  aliquot  detects:  R.  G.  Mon- 
tanoauctore.  Heidelb.  1567.  Mariana  :  Hist.  General  de  Bspafia, 
18  vols.  Valencia,  1830-41.  2  vols.  8vo.  Madrid,  1854  (in  the 
Bibl.  de  Autores  Espanoles,  vols.  19-20)  Engl,  transl.  1699.  EL 
St.  Hilaire,  Histoire  d'Espagne.  Tom.xii.  New  ed.  1844  Mq. 
Dunham  :  Hist,  of  Spain  and  Portugal.  New  ed.  3  vole,  I2ma 
1847.  Prescott:  Historyof  the  Reign  of  Philip  II.  8  role. 
1855.  TrciNOR :  Hist,  of  Spanish  Literature.  8  vols.  Bvo.  1849. 
Llorente  :  Hist,  de  l'Inquisition  d'Espagne.  l  rols.  I 
1820. 


590  APPENDIX. 

The  Roman  Catholic  Counter-Reformation. 

I.  The  Council  of  Trent.  Sources.  J.  le  Phi!  (teacher, of  Canon 
Law  at  Louvain)  :  Monumentorum  ad  Hist.  Concil.  Trid.  Spec- 
tantium  Amplissima  Collectio.     Louvain,  1781  scq.  7  (8)  torn.  4to. 

Acta  Cone.  Trid.  ann.  1562-63  a  Cardinale  Paleotto  descripta ;  ed. 
Mendham,  London,  1842. 

Lettres  et  Memoires  de  Francois  de  Vargas,  de  Pierie  de  Malvenda, 
[members  of  the  Imperial  embassy],  et  de  qnelques  Evcques  d'Es- 
pagnc,  touchant  le  Cone,  de  Trente.     Paris,  1654.     4to. 

Mendham  :  Memoirs  of  the  Council  of  Trent.  8vo.  London,  1 834. 
New  ed.    1844. 

Planck  :  Anecdota  ad  Hist.  Cone.  Trid.  Pertinentia.  Gbttingen, 
1791-1818,  26  programmata. 

Sickel :  Zur  Geschichte  d.  Concil  von  Trient ;  Acten-stncke  aus  Oes- 
terrechischen  Archiven.     Vienna,  1872. 

Canones  et  Decreta  Cone.  Trid.,  juxta  Exemplar  authentic.  Roma? 
editum,  eel.  le  Plat,  Antwerp,  1779.  4to.  Madrid,  1786.  Fol.  New 
ed.,  enlarged  from  the  Rom.  Bullarium,  by  A.  L.  Richter,  Leipzig, 
t853. 

Libri  Symbolici  Eccl.  Cathol.,  edd.  Streitwolf  and  Klener.  Gbt- 
tingen,  1838.    2  vols.     8vo. 

Histories  of  the  Council  of  Trent.  Paolo  Sarpi  :  Istoria  del  Cone. 
Trident.,  London,  1619,  fol.  ;  in  Latin,  London,  1620;  Engl,  trans- 
lation by  Brent,  16  76,  fol.  French  ed.,  with  notes  by  Le  Courayer, 
London,  2  torn.,  folio,  1736. 

Sforza  Pallavicixo  :  Istoria  del  Cone.  diTrento.  Roma,  1656-7, 
2  t.,  fob:  2d  ed.,  3  t.,  4to,  1665:  in  Latin,  Giattino,  Rom.  and 
Antvp.,  1672,  3  t.,  4to;  new  ed.  revised  by  the  author,  Rome,  1666. 

Biografia  di  Fra  Paolo  Sarpi  di  Bianchi-Giovini.  Zurigo,  1836,  2  t. 
E.  Munch:  Fra  P.  Sarpi,  Carlsruhe,  1838. 

Wesscnberg  [Roman  Catholic]  :  Die  grossen  Kirchenversammlungen 
der  15.  u.  16.  Jahrh.     Constance,  1840. 

Courayer :  Discours  Hist,  sur  la  Re'ception  du  Concile  de  Trente. 
Amsterdam,  1756  (appendix  to  Sarpi).  Bungener:  Hist,  du  Con- 
cile de  Trente.     2  vols.  12mo.     1853. 

The  Popes  of  this  Pei-iod.  Ranke  :  History  of  the  Popes.  3  vols. 
8vo.     1867. 

Lorentz :  Sixtus  V.  u.  seine  Zeit.     Mayence,  1852. 

Hubner :  Life  of  Pope  Sixtus  V.  Engl,  transl.  2  vols.  8vo. 
1872. 

Kbllner:  De  actis  Concil.  trid.     Gbttingen.     2  part.  8vo.     1841. 


A   LIST   OF   WOKKS   OX   THE   REFORMATION.  591 

II.  The  Order  of  Jesuits.  Corpus  Institutorum  Societatia  Jesu. 
Antvp.  1702.     2  vols.     4to. 

Constitutions,  Dccreta  Congregationum,  Censurae  et  Prcecepta,  cum 
Litteris  Apostol.  et  Privilegiis.  Prague.  17."-.";.  2  vol-,  it...  [n- 
stitutum  soc.  Jesu.     Prague,  1757.     Fol. 

Lives  of  Ignatius  Loyola,  by  Jesuits:  Consalvi,  in  Acta  Sanctorum, 
Jul.  vii.  634  seq. ;  by  Ribadeneira,  Naples,  1572,  Madrid,  1586, 
and  in  Acta  SanCt.  1.  c.  655  seq. ;  by  Maffki,  Rome,  1585;  by 
Bartoli,  Rome,  1659.  Genelli :  Leben  d.  lieilig.  Loyola.  Inns- 
bruck, 1848.  I.Taylor;  Loyola  and  Jesuitism  in  its  Rudiments. 
8vo.     London,  1849. 

Exercitia  Spiritualia  Ign.  Loiokc,  Antvp.  1638,  Ratisbon,  1855.  His- 
tory of  the  Jesuit  Order,  by  Hasenmuller,  1588;  by  Gretser,  In- 
golstadt,  1584;  by  R.  Hospinian,  Zurich,  (1649)  1670.  Hist  <1. 
Religicux  de  la  Coinpagnie  de  Jesus,  Paris,  1740,  Utrecht,  1741* 
4to.    4  torn. 

Harenberg  :  Pragm.  Gsch.  d.  Ordens  d.  Jesuiten.  Halle,  1760.  2  vols. 
4to.  [Goudrette :]  Hist.  Generate  de  la  Naissance  et  des  Progres 
de  la  Compagnie  de  Jesus;  et  [C.  Paige]  L' Analyse  de  Bes  Constitu- 
tions et  Privildges.  Paris,  1760.  Amst.,  1761,  5  vols.  Wolf  :  Allg. 
Gsch.  d  Jesuiten.     4  vols.     Leipzig,  1808. 

Histories  of  the  Jesuits,  by  Dallas,  2  vols.  London,  1816  ;  by  Lis- 
kenne,  Paris,  1825;  by  De  Sarrion,  Paris,  1838;  by  CB1&TINEAU 
Joly,  Paris,  1844-6,  6  tomes;  by  Briihl,  Wiirzburg,  1845  seq.; 
by  Buss,  Mayence,  2  abth.,  1853;  by  Stoger,  Ratisbon,  1851  ;  by 
Kortum,  Mannheim,  1843;  by  Julius,  Leipzig,  1845  seq.;  by 
Steinmetz,  London,  1848.    3  vols.     8vo. 

For  the  multitudinous  works  respecting  the  Jesuits,  reference  must 
be  had  to  the  special  bibliographies  :  — 

Carayon  :  Bibl.  historique  de  la  Compagnie  de  Jesus,  ou  Cataloguo 
des  ouvrages  relalifs  a  l'histoire  des  Jesuites  depuis  letir  origine, 
etc.     4to.     1864. 

Bibliotheque  des  Ecrivains  de  la  Compagnie  de  Je*SUS,  OU  Notices 
bibliographiques  1°  De  tous  les  ouvrages  publies  par  les  Membres  de 
la  Compagnie  de  Jesus;  2°  Des  Apologies,  des  Controverses  relig- 
ieuses,  des  Critiques  litteraires  et  Bcientifiques  Buscitees  a  leur  BUJet 
Par  Augustin  et  Alois  de  Backer,  Serie  i.-vie  1853  61.  I  M'  this 
work,  Petzholdt  (Bibliotheque  bibliography  1866),  after  referring  to 
the  previous  bibliographical  labors  of  Ribadeneira,  Aiegambe,  and 
Southwell,  says:  "  Alles  was  von  Jesuiten-bibliographie  bisher 
erschienen  ist,  wird  durch  das  B.'sche  Werk  durchaua  iibernussig 
gemacht." 


INDEX. 


"  Acceptants,"  453. 

Adiaphoristic  controversy,  165. 

Adrian  VI.,  Pope,  on  the  corruption  of 
the  church,  13;  his  character,  115; 
reply  of  the  Diet  of  Nuremberg 
(1522)  to  his  demand  for  action 
against  Luther,  115;  his  letter  to 
Zwingle,  147. 

Academies,  the  Italian,  broken  up  by 
the  Inquisition,  405. 

iEsop,  Luther  translates,  120. 

Aix  la  Chapelle,  Peace  of,  455. 

Albigenses,  their  character,  55;  cru- 
sades of  Innocent  III.  against  them, 
56. 

Alciati,  478. 

Aleander,  108. 

Alencon,  Duke  of  (husband  of  Mar- 
garet), 240. 

Alencon,  Duke  of  (Duke  of  Anjou), 
his  death,  278. 

Alexander  III.,  his  interview  with 
Frederic  Barbarossa,  29. 

Alexander  V.,  Pope,  his  pledges  to  the 
council  of  Pisa,  43. 

Alexander  VI.,  Pope,  his  grant  to 
Spain,  47;  his  character,  45 ;  excom- 
municates Savonarola,  65. 

Alexander  of  Hales,  his  doctrine  of 
supererogatory  merits,  92. 

Allen,  William,  414,  505. 

Alphonso,  king  of  Portugal,  47. 

Altieri,  393. 

Alva,  Duke  of,  at  the  conference  of 
Bayonne,  270;  his  character,  301; 
his  recommendations  to  Philip  II., 
301;  sent  to  the  Netherlands,  301; 
marches  from  Italy,  301;  establishes 

33 


the  "Council  of  Blood,"  302;  exe- 
cutes Egmont  and  Horn,  303;  his 
scheme  of  taxation,  303;  resigns, 
304. 

Amboise,  conspiracy  of,  260 ;  avenged 
by  Guise,  261;  edict  of,  269. 

Anabaptists,  their  tenets,  475;  different 
classes  of,  476;  numerous  in  the 
Netherlands,  288;  influence  of  Men- 
no  on  them,  311. 

Anderson,  Lawrence,  176. 

Anglo-Saxons,  their  conversion,  23. 

Anne  Boleyn,  her  return  to  England, 
247 ;  her  marriage  with  Henry  VIII. , 
320. 

Anselm,  element  of  mysticism  in,  65; 
his  doctrine  of  the  satisfaction  of 
Christ,  460. 

Anthony  of  Navarre,  summoned  to 
Orleans,  262;  made  lieutenant-gen- 
eral, 263. 

Antitrinitarians,  rise  ot  the,  477. 

Anquetil,  on  Catharine  de  Medici,  257. 

Aquinas,  his  doctrine  of  indulgences, 
92;  of  supererogatory  merits,  94;  on 
the  infallibility  of  the  Pope,  30. 

Arianism,  its  prevalence  among  the 
barbarian  nations,  22;  supplanted  by 
Catholicism,  22. 

Aristotle,  connection  of  scholasticism 
with,  536;  his  authority  Bhak<  n  by 
the  Bumanists,  536;  how  far  attacked 
by  the  reformers,  536;  by  Luther, 
536;  Melancthon's  view  of,  536;  re- 
tained his  place  in  Catholic  universi- 
ties, 537. 

Armies,  constitution  of,  in  the  17th 
century,  426. 


594 


INDEX. 


Arminians,  their  doctrines,  473;  their 
scholarship,  475 ;  their  political  dif- 
ference with  the  Calvinists,  315; 
their  critical  spirit,  545. 

Arminius,  his  history,  473;  his  contro- 
versy with  Gomarus,  473;  Milton's 
remark  on,  528. 

Arnauld,  452,  531. 

Arneys,  Antoine,  228. 

Arnold,  of  Brescia,  his  aim  and  fate, 
386. 

Arnold,  T.,  on  Church  and  State,  500. 

Arran,  Earl  of,  353. 

Art,  how  affected  by  Protestantism, 
540 ;  in  the  Netherlands,  541. 

Articles,  the  ten,  323;  they  offend  the 
Catholic  party,  323 ;  the  six,  324. 

Articles,  of  the  Church  of  England, 
framed,  327;  revision  of  (1563),  331. 

Articles,  the  Lambeth,  339. 

Asceticism,  its  origin  in  the  church, 
552;  in  the  Middle  Ages,  552;  cast 
away  by  Protestantism,  552. 

Astrology,  in  the  15th  and  16th  cen- 
turies, 3. 

Atonement,  Protestant  and  Catholic 
view  of,  460 ;  the  theory  of  Grotius, 
474. 

Autos  daj'e,  in  Spain,  408. 

Augsburg,  Di<t  at  (1530),  118;  its  de- 
cree, 119. 

Augsburg,  Confession  of,  119;  Apol- 
ogy for  the  Confession,  119. 

Augsburg,  peace  of,  168:  wholesome 
effect  of  it,  422;  violations  of  it, 
433. 

Augustine,  on  religious  persecution, 
223;  he  is  studied  by  Luther,  90; 
how  he  differs  from  Calvin,  307. 

Austria,  spread  of  Protestantism  in, 
422;  Jesuit  influence  in,  423. 

Avignon,  residence  of  the  popes  at,  38; 
character  of  their  court,  39. 

Babylonian  captivity  of  the  Papacy,  38. 

Bacon,  Leonard,  his  Historical  Dis- 
courses, 441. 

Bacon,  Lord,  his  view  of  astrology,  3; 
on  the  Puritan  controversy,  349 ;  on 
episcopacy,  334;  on  church  govern- 


ment, 350;  relation  of  his  system  to 
Protestantism,  537. 

Bajus,  451. 

Balmes,  his  view  of  the  Reformation,  6. 

Baltimore,  Lord,  508. 

Barneveldt,  Olden,  474. 

Baronius,  25 ;  his  annals,  522. 

Basel,  council  of,  43 ;  it  hears  the  Utra- 
quists,  181;  Reformation  established 
in,  143. 

Baur,  F.  C,  546;  on  Servetus,  227. 

Baxter,  Richard,  437;  his  character, 
443;  ejected  from  his  parish  (1662), 
442. 

Bayle,  on  Leo.  X.,  46. 

Bayonne,  conference  at,  270. 

Beaton,  Cardinal,  353. 

Beda,  the  Syndic,  243. 

Beghards,  who  they  were,  57. 

Beguines,  who  they  were,  57. 

Bellarmine,  on  the  corruption  of  the 
Church,  13;  on  the  visible  Church, 
465 ;  on  Church  and  State,  504. 

Bembo,  Cardinal,  his  spirit,  73. 

Berengarius,  148. 

Bernard,  St.,  mysticism  of,  65. 

Bernard,  of  Weimar,  431. 

Berne,  Reformation,  established  in,  143. 

Berquin,  Louis  de,  248. 

Berthelier,  230;  put  to  death,  208. 

Beveridge,  446. 

Beza,  Theodore;  his  character  and 
manners,  266;  at  the  Colloquy  of 
Poissy,  266;  on  Calvin's  death,  238; 
his  remark  on  the  death  of  Francis 
II. ,  263;  on  the  origin  of  the  word 
"Huguenot,"  264. 

Bible,  the  source  of  Protestantism,  10; 
Luther's  translation  of  the,  112:  its 
benefit  to  the  Germans,  112:  early 
German  translations  of  the,  112;  pub- 
lished in  English  by  Henry  VIII. , 
323;  made  by  the  Protestants  the  rule 
of  faith,  461 ;  effect  of  it  in  Protestant 
countries,  530 ;  the  reading  of  it  not 
encouraged  in  the  Catholic  Church, 
530 ;  origin  of  the  disuse  of  it  among 
the  laity,  531. 

Biel,  Gabriel,  467. 

Blandrata,  478. 


INDEX. 


595 


Blois,  meeting  of  the  States-General 
at  (157G),  278;  (1588),  279. 

Boccaccio,  his  relation  to  the  revival  of 
learning-,  071;  his  treatment  of  the 
Church  and  religion,  388. 

Bodin,  3. 

Bohemia,  how  affected  by  the  exe- 
cution of  Huss,  177;  its  conversion 
to  Christianity,  178;  its  sufferings 
after  the  Smalcaldic  war,  183;  Prot- 
estants acquire  legal  protection  in, 
18-1;  reception  of  Luther's  doctrine 
in,  183;  its  revolt  against  Ferdinand 
II.,  424;  gives  its  crown  to  the  Elec- 
tor Palatine,  424;  devastated,  425. 

Bologna,  Protestantism  in,  393. 

Bolsec,  imprisoned  at  Geneva,  214; 
banished,  225. 

Bonaventura,  mysticism  of,  65. 

Boniface,  the  apostle  of  Germany,  2'5. 

Boniface  VIII.,  his  theories  and  charac- 
ter, 3G;  opposed  by  the  spirit  of  na- 
tionalism, 3G ;  his  conflict  with  Philip 
the  Fair,  37:  his  bull,  clericis  laicos, 
37;  is  assaulted  and  dies,  38;  how 
viewed  by  Tosti,  Wiseman,  and 
Schwab,  37. 

Books,    censorship   of,  in    the    Roman 
Catholic  Church,  526;  in  Prol 
countries,    528;    by   Laud,    528;  by 
the  Puritans,  528. 

Bora,  ( latharine  von,  her  marriage  with 
Luther,  123. 

Borromeo,  Carlo,  his  character,  413. 

Bossuet,  525,  539;  refers  the  Reform- 
ation to  .-•.  dispute  of  nmnks,  3;  on 
the  relation  of  Protestantism  to 
abusi  s  in  the.  Church,  L3;  on  the  cor- 
ruption  of  the  Church,  13;  his  opin- 
ion (if '  Jalvin's  intellect,  206;  his  cor- 
respondence with  Molan  us,  L84;  with 
'  iiitz,  484. 

Bothwell,  Mary's  attachment  to  him, 
372;  his  agency  in  Darnley's  mur- 
der. 37-1 ;  his  ab  luction  of  tii 
371:  his  supper  at  Edinburgh,  -17  1  ; 
his  divorce  from  his  wife,  375;  his 
marriage  with  Mary,  375. 

Boucher,  Jean,  476. 

Bourbons,  their  union  with  the  Hugue- 
nots, 259. 


Bradford  on  predestination,  336. 

Brantomc,  on  Guise  and  Coligni,  261; 
admires  Mary  Queen  of  Scots,  357. 

Breda,  declaration  of  Charles  1L,  from, 
441. 

Brederode,  297. 

Bres,  Guido  de,  311. 

Brethren  in  Unity,  the  Bohemian,  rise 
of,  182;  their  reception  of  Luther'? 
doctrine,  183. 

Briconnet,  his  reformatory  tendencies, 
214;  opposes  Protestantism,  245. 

Briel,  capture  of,  304. 

Brucioli,  393. 

Bruno,  Giordano,  523. 

Bryce,  his  work  on  the  "  Holy  Roman 
Empire,"  25. 

Budseus,  243;  Erasmus  compared  with, 
78. 

Bucer,  .Martin,  bis  irenical  efforts,  151; 
a  professor  at  Cambridge,  326;  on 
ceremonies  in  the  English  Church, 
344;  his  letter  to  the  Protestants  of 
Bologna,  393. 

Buchanan,  George,  354. 

Bugenhagen,  shapes  the  church  consti- 
tution of  Denmark,  173. 

Burnet,  for  comprehension,  440. 

Bullinger,  on  the  execution  of  Servetus, 
232;  his  intimacy  with  English  di- 
vines, 333. 

Burckhardt,  on  the  tone  of  the  Italian 
Renaissanc  . 

b,  his  belief  in  astrology,  3. 

Burns,  530. 

Cesarini,  CardinalJulian,  181. 

Calderon,  520. 

Cajetan,  his  interviews  with  Luther  at 
Augsbur  .. 

Calixtus,  his  syncretism,  481. 

Calixtus  i!.,  1  *. ']>*-,  concludes  the 
Worms  Concordat  win  Henry  V., 
28. 

<  lalraar,  Union  of,  L70. 

('alvin,  his  birth,  I92j  belongs  to  tt.< 
pecond  generation  of  Reformers, 
L92;  his  childhood,  192;  his  father, 
L93;  idles  at  Paris,  I93j  studies 
law  at  Orleans  and  Bourges,  Ittj 
bis  proficiency,    193;   his   habita  oi 


596 


INDEX. 


study,  193 ;  learns  Greek,  194 ; 
edits  Seneca's  treatise  on  "  Clem- 
ency," 194;  for  what  reason,  194; 
his  conversion,  195;  its  date,  195; 
his  reverence  for  the  Church,  195; 
his  reserve  and  shyness,  196;  de- 
voted to  religious  studies,  196; 
writes  an  address  for  Nicholas  Cop, 
196;  flies  from  Paris,  196;  visits 
B£arn,  196;  again  flies  from  Paris, 
196;  his  "Psychopannychia,"  197; 
atStrashurg,  197;  composes  the  "In- 
stitutes," 197;  first  prints  them  in 
Latin,  198 ;  his  dedication  to  Francis 
I.,  197 ;  his  personal  characteristics, 
198;  how  esteemed  by  Melancthon, 
.199;  constant  in  his  opinions,  199; 
his  conception  of  the  Church,  200; 
his  doctrine  of  Predestination,  200; 
his  practical  motive  in  it,  201; 
his  doctrine  compared  with  Augus- 
tine's, 201;  with  Luther's,  202;  not 
an  extremist  with  regard  to  rites, 
203 ;  his  letter  to  Somerset,  203 ;  crit- 
icises the  Anglican  Church,  203;  his 
letter  to  Cranmer,  204;  contrasted 
with  Luther,  204;  his  censorious 
tone,  204;  his  poor  health,  204;  his 
passionate  temper,  204;  his  homage 
to  law,  205;  his  zeal  for  the  honor  of 
God,  205;  his  hymns,  206;  his  high 
qualities,  206;  visits  the  Duchess  of 
Ferrara,  207,  392;  stops  in  Geneva 
on  his  return,  207;  moved  by  Farel 
to  remain.  211;  his  first  work  there, 
212;  refuses  to  administer  the  Sacra- 
ment, 213;  is  banished,  213;  at 
Strasburg,  213;  attends  the  Ger- 
man conferences,  213 ;  his  opposition 
to  the  Leipsic  Interim,  214;  his  re- 
gard for  Luther,  214;  his  friendship 
for  Melancthon,  214;  his  relations 
to  the  Zwinglian  churches,  215;  how 
treated  by  Berne,  215;  his  marriage, 
215;  recalled  to  Geneva,  216;  his 
letter  to  Sadolet,  216;  his  ecclesias- 
tical and  civil  system,  217;  revives 
the  eldership,  218;  influence  of  the 
Mosaic  code  on  his  scheme  of  gov- 
ernment,    219;      opposed    by    the 


Libertines  and  Patriots,  220  ;  re- 
joices at  the  Edict  of  St.  Germain, 
267;  condemned  the  plot  to  assassi- 
nate Guise,  269 ;  favors  the  forcible 
suppression  of  religious- error,  224; 
his  conflicts  at  Geneva,  225;  his 
controversy  with  Castellio,  226;  his 
vituperative  epithets,  226;  his 
concern  in  the  trial  and  death  of 
Servetus,  230,  231 ;  his  action  in  this 
affair,  judged  by  Guizot,  230;  his 
treatment  of  Laflius  Socinus,  232; 
his  triumph  over  the  Libertines, 
233 ;  his  description  of  his  conflicts, 
233;  his  labors  and  influence,  234; 
his  correspondence,  235;  his  influence 
on  the  French  Reformation,  235;  his 
last  days,  235;  his  various  employ- 
ments, 235 ;  his  last  interview  with 
the  Senate,  235;  with  the  Clergy, 
236 ;  his  review  of  his  career,  237 ; 
his  death,  238;  his  character,  238; 
faults  of  his  constitution  at  Geneva, 
239;  his  letter  to  Margaret.  Q.  of 
Navarre,  217;  how  regarded  by 
Huguenot  martyrs,  256;  inculcates 
obedience  to  rulers,  260 ;  disapproves 
of  the  Amboise  conspiracy,  261; 
charged  with  Arianism,  212;  on 
Zwingle's  view  of  the  Eucharist,  215; 
his  influence  in  England,  337;  his 
difference  from  Augustine,  337;  his 
doctrine  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  148; 
on  the  observance  of  Sunday,  483. 

Calvinism,  as  a  theological  system, 
238;  how  it  promoted  civil  liberty, 
239;  its  theory  of  the  powers  of 
Church  and  State,  239;  republican 
character  of  its  church  constitution 
240;  its  theology  equalizes  men  by 
exalting  God,  240;  compared  with 
Romanism,  in  its  view  of  Church  and 
State,  241;  sources  of  opposition  to 
it  in  France,  249;  more  attractive  to 
France  than  Lutheranism,  253;  in 
the  Church  of  England,  335,  337; 
how  it  spread  in  the  Netherlands, 
288;  hostility  of  Lutherans  to,  422; 
its  five  points,  47-1. 

Calvinists,  prevail  in  the  Netherlands, 


INDEX. 


597 


311;  adopt  the  "  ConfessioBelgica," 
311;  do  not  favor  religious  liberty 
in  the  Netherlands,  312  ;  finally 
petition  for  it  (1578),  314;  their 
political  difference  with  the  Armin- 
ians,  314;  provision  for  them  in 
the  Treaty  of  Westphalia,  432;  see 
"  Protestants."  "Reformation,"  and 
under  the  different  countries. 

Campeggio,  legate  of  Clement  VII., 
115. 

Cappel,  war  of,  154. 

Caracci,  school  of,  412,  522. 

Caraffa,  his  hostility  to  doctrinal  in- 
novations, 396 ;  on  the  spread  of  Prot- 
estantism in  Italy,  394;  organizes 
the  Inquisition  in  Italy,  403;  its 
cruelty,  404;  his  Consilium  to  Paul 
III.,  405;  his  prohibitory  Index,  405. 

Carlstadt,  disputes  with  Eck  at  Leip- 
sic,  98;  his  iconoclastic  movement 
at  Wittenberg,  113. 

Cambray,  Peace  of,  118. 

Carlyle,     on    the    nations    which  re 
jected  the  Reformation,  511. 

Carnesecchi,  Pietro,  393;  put  to  death, 
411. 

Carranza.  Bartolome  de,  persecution  of, 
409. 

Cartwright,  bis  principles,  345. 

"Casket  letters,"  the  question  of  their 
genuineness,  376. 

Cassander,  482. 

Castellio,  bis  cbarges  against  Calvin, 
226;  banished  from  Geneva,  226. 

Cateau-Cambresis,  Peace  of,  255. 

Catharine,  of  Aragon,  her  marriage  with 
Prince  Arthur  not  consummated,  319. 

Catharine  de  Medici,  her  childhood, 256 ; 
her  relations  to  her  husband,  256; 
her  '1  pendence  on  Diana  of  Poitiers, 
257;  her  ambition,  257;  balked  by 
the  Guises,  257;  acquires  power  on 
the  deatb  of  Francis  [I.,  263;  at  die 
Conference'  of  Bayonne,  270;  aims 
to  balance  the  parties  against  eacb 
other,  270 ;  her  motiv<  a  in  making  the 
treaty  of  St.  Germain,  272;  plans  a 
marriage  between  Q.  Elizabeth  and 
her  son,  273 ;  her  jealousy  of  Coligny , 


274;  plots  his  assassination,  274;  vis- 
its him  after  be  is  wounded,  275;  her 
agency  in  the  massacre  of  St.  Barthol- 
omew, 275;  her  policy  after  it,  277. 

Catharine  von  Bora,  her  marriage  with 
Luther,  123. 

Catharista,  their  principles,  55. 

Catholics,  evangelical,  persecution  of 
them,  409. 

Catholic  reaction,  its  vitality,  how 
shown,  410;  how  affected  by  the  de- 
feat of  the  Armada,  421 ;  by  the  ac- 
cession of  Henry  IV.,  421;  prostra- 
tion of  it,  456. 

Catholicism,  Roman,  more  cherished  in 
Southern  Europe,  418. 

Catholicism,  Spanish,  its  spirit  not 
suited  to  Erance,  250. 

Cazalla,  Augustine,  408. 

Cecil,  minister  of  James  I.,  435. 

Celibacy,  its  effect  on  the  Papacy,  29. 

Cervantes,  520. 

Chalcedon,  council  of,  influenced  by 
Leo  I.,  19. 

Chalmers,  on  Church  and  State,  502. 

Charles  I.,  his  arbitrary  principles,  436; 
his  treatment  of  Papists,  436. 

Charles  II.,  his  restoration,  441;  his 
declaration  from  Breda,  441;  violates 
his  pledges,  441;  his  character,  442; 
Anglican  Reaction  under,  442;  his  al- 
liance with  Louis  XIV.,  4  4  •'  J . 

Charlemagne,  crowned  at  Rome,  23; 
Emperor  of  the  West, 2'!:  his  relations 
to  the  Papacy,  23;  effect  of  the  break- 
ing up  of  bis  Empire  on  the  Papacy, 
24. 

Charles  IV.,  the  Golden  Bull  of,  103. 

Charles  V.,  his  straggle  with  Francis 
I.,  4!):  his  extensive  dominions,  105; 
elected  Emperor  of  Germany,  105; 
reasons  for  the  choice,  K>.">:  alarm  oc- 
casioned by  it  in  Europe,  105;  hostil- 
ity of  Francis  I.  to,  and  it-  grounds, 
105;  his  character,  I1'?;  how  he  acted 
in  the  affair  of  the  Reformation,  107  : 
his  ruling  desire,  107;  Buram 
ther  to  the  Diet  of  Worms,  108;  his 

regret  that    he  did  not     then    destroy 

Luther,  111;  his  agreement  with  Leo 


598 


INDEX. 


X.,  Ill ;  his  action  with  regard  to  the 
assembly  at  Spires,  116;  league 
formed  against  him,  116;  chooses  to 
maintain  the  old  idea  of  the  Empire, 
117 ;  makes  peace  with  Clement  VII., 
118 ;  disabled  from  crushing  Protes- 
tantism for  ten  years  (from  1532), 156; 
his  expedition  to  Algiers,  158;  his 
superficial  estimate  of  Protestantism, 
164;  establishes  the  Interim,  161; 
opposed  by  Paul  III.,  164;  leaves 
Ferdinand  to  negotiate  with  the  Prot- 
estants, 167;  abdicates,  169,  289; 
baffled  by  the  moral  force  of  Prot- 
estantism, 421 ;  his  persecution  in  the 
Netherlands,  287;  its  effect  on  the 
country,  288;  his  cloister  life,  290; 
his  bigotry,  290;  his  death,  410. 

Charles  IX.,  becomes  king  of  Sweden, 
177. 

Charles  VIII.,  of  France,  his  invasion 
of  Italy,  11. 

Charles  IX.,  of  France,  his  accession, 
263;  his  anger  at  the  Huguenot  ris- 
ing, 270;  impressed  by  Coligny,  274; 
visits  him  after  he  is  wounded,  275; 
his  death,  277. 

Gh&telar,  358. 

Chaucer,  on  the  mendicant  friars,  35. 

Chesterfield,  Lord,  2. 

Christian  II.,  of  Denmark,  favors  Prot- 
estantism, 171;  retreats,  171;  his 
cruelty  in  Sweden,  171;  deposed,  171. 

Christian  III.,  of  Denmark,  introduces 
Protestantism,  173. 

Christian  IV.,  of  Denmark,  his  defeat, 
426. 

Christianity,  spirituality  of,  14;  its  re- 
lation to  culture,  551. 
Jhurch,  affected  by  judaizing  ideas, 
14;  simple  organization  of  the  apos- 
tolic, 14:  it  is  municipal,  15;  its  of- 
ficers at  the  ontfet,  15;  rise  of  the 
Episcopate  in  it,  15:  Irenseus  and 
Tertullian  on  the  visible,  17;  influ- 
ence of  political  models  on  its  polity, 
17;  primacy  of  the  Roman  See  in 
the,  18;  effect  of  the  fall  of  Roman 
Empire  on  the,  22;  reaction  of  the 
spiritual  element  in  the,  53. 


Church,  the  polity  of,  the  principles  of 
the  Lutheran  Reformers,  488;  not 
realized  by  them,  489  ;  Zwfagle's  view 
of,  495;  Calvin's  view  of,  496. 

Church  of  England,  under  James  I., 
433;  its  new  theory  of  Episcopacy, 
433;  becomes  Arminian,  434;  zeal 
for  it  after  the  restoration,  442; 
theories  of  its  relation  to  the  State, 
499;  the  Erastian  doctrine,  500; 
Hooker's  view,  500;  Arnold's  view, 
500;  Warburton's  view,  501;  Cole- 
ridge's view,  501 ;  Gladstone's  view, 
502;  Chalmers's  view,  502;  Mac- 
aulay's  view,  503. 

Church,  Roman  Catholic,  in  the  Uni- 
ted States,  509 ;  how  far  responsible 
for  persecution.  518 ;  on  the  reading 
of  the  Bible  in  the  vernacular,  530. 

Church,  Scottish  Protestant,  its  wor- 
ship and  constitution,  379;  becomes 
fully  Presbyterian,  380. 

Church  and  State,  view  of  the  Reform- 
ers on  their  connection,  488;  view 
of  Luther  and  Melancthon,  488;  of 
Zwingle,  495;  of  Calvin,  496;  their 
connection  in  England,  499  ;  Roman 
Catholic  theories,  504:  Bellarmine's 
view,  504;  doctrine  of  the  Jesuits, 
505;  American  theory  of  their  rela- 
tion, 508. 

Civil  authority,  inquiries  into  the  na- 
ture of,  40. 

Clarendon,  Constitutions  of,  39. 

Clement  VII.,  his  treatment  of  Henry 
VIII. 's  petition  for  a  divorce,  319; 
cannot  induce  the  Diet  of  Nurem- 
berg (1524)  to  suppress  Lutheran- 
ism,  115;  a  prisoner  of  Charles  V., 
117. 

Clementine  Homilies,  on  Peter  as 
Bishop  of  Rome,  18. 

Clement  XI,  against  the  Jansenists, 
453. 

( !loist(  rs,  confiscation  of  their  property 

in  England,  321. 
Coleridge,     on     the    Papacy,    50;    on 

Church  and  State,  501; 
Colet,  317 ;  his  character  and  services, 
76. 


INDEX. 


5D9 


Coligni,  refuses  to  join  in  the  Am- 
boise  conspiracy,  261;  presents  the 
Huguenot  petition,  262;  takes  no 
part  in  the  assassination  of  Guise, 
269;  disapproves  of  the  Edict  of 
Amboise,  270;  finds  safety  in  Ro- 
chelle, 271;  resumes  hostilities,  271; 
at  Jarnac  and  Moncontour,  271;  his 
character,  259;  comes  to  the  court, 
273;  his  lofty  qualities,  273;  his  in- 
fluence over  Charles  IX.,  274;  pro- 
poses war  with  Spain,  274;  plot  to 
assassinate  him,  274;  he  is  wounded, 
275;  visited  by  Charles  IX.  and 
Catharine  de  Medici.  275. 

Cologne,  Elector  of,  his  conversion  to 
Protestantism,  424. 

Colonna,  Sciarra,  he  assaults  Boniface 
VIII.,  38. 

Colonna,  Vittoria,  394. 

Company,  the  Venerable,  at  Geneva, 
219. 

Compactata,  granted  to  the  Utraquists, 
182. 

Comprehension,  opportunities  for,  lost 
by  the  Church  of  England,  442, 
445. 

Compromise,  form  d  by  the  nobles  in 
the  Netherlands,  297;  their  design, 
297. 

Concord,  Form  of,  481. 

Conde,  Louis,  Prince  de,  his  character, 
259 ;  privy  to  the  Amboise  conspiracy, 
261;  under  arrest  at  Orleans,  262; 
tried  for  treason,  263;  his  lack  of  wis- 
dom, 270;  finds  safety  in  Rochelle, 
271;  falls  at  Jarnac,  271. 

Coud(S  Henry,  Prince  de,  sallies  forth 
with  Coligni  from  Rochelle,  271; 
excommunicated  by  Sixtus  V.,  279. 

Conference  at  liatisbon,  157. 

"  Congregatio  de  propaganda  tide." 
550. 

Congregational  ism,  in  the  French 
Church,  499;  in  New  England,  507. 

Conrad  of  Waldhausen,  61. 

Consistory,  its  functions,  in  Geneva, 
218. 

Consistories  in  the  Lutheran  churches, 
491. 


Constance,  Council  of,  43;  failure  of  it, 
43. 

Constantine,  relation  of  Church  and 
State  under,  and  under  his  succes- 
sors, 21;  his  alleged  donation  ex- 
posed by  Valla,  389. 

Constitution  of  Germany,  103;  alter- 
ations of  it,  under  Maximilian,  104. 

Contarini,  at  Ratisbon,  158. 

Convocation,  in  the  English  Church, 
503. 

Cop,  Nicholas,  196. 

Corderius,  he  teaches  Calvin,  193. 

Council,  of  Pisa,  43;  of  Constance, 
43;  of  Basel,  43. 

Councils,  the  Reforming,  42. 

Council  of  Trent,  condemns  Protes- 
tant doctrine,  401;  Paul  III.,  trans- 
fers it  to  Bologna,  401  ;  its  benefit  to 
the  Catholic  cause,  402. 

Covenanters  of  Scotland,  447. 

Cox,  Bishop  of  Ely,  in  the  vestment 
controversy,  343;  Elizabeth's  treat- 
ment of,  346. 

Cranmer,  his  advice  to  Henry  VIII., 
on  the  divorce,  319;  decrees  the 
divorce,  320;  protected  by  Henry 
VIII.,  324;  calls  theologians  from 
the  continent,  326;  his  character, 
322;  his  view  of  the  tenure  of 
church  officers,  332;  proposes  a  Prot- 
estant council,  332;  Calvin's  letter 
to,  204;  his  opinion  on  the  Eucha- 
rist, 340;  his  recantation,  328;  his 
faults,  32S;  his  death,  328;  effect  of 
it,  329. 

Creeds,  Erasmus's  opinion  of,  80. 

Crell,  479. 

Cromwell,  Oliver,  England  under,  441; 
his  "Triers,"  439. 

Cromwell,  Thomas,  322;  execution  of. 
324. 

Cup,  withdrawal  of  it  from  the  laity, 
178;  doctrine  of  Aquinas,  ITS. 

Cyprian,  on  the  primacy  of  the  Roman 
See,  IS:  aj  ainsl  I :  in,  222. 

Cyril,  missionary  in  Bohemia,  178. 

D'Ailly,  his  theory  of  the  Episcopate, 
42.  " 


600 


INDEX. 


D'Albret,  Jeanne,  Q.  of  Navarre,  her 
court  at  Rochelle,  271. 

Damascus,  John  of,  147. 

Dandelot,  259. 

Dante,  heralds  a  new  era  of  culture, 
67;  chastises  the  Papacy,  34,  35;  on 
the  design  of  the  Roman  Empire,  20 ; 
his  treatise  on  monarchy,  40 ;  on  the 
neglect  of  the  classic  authors,  67; 
his  theology,  388;  on  the  temporal 
ambition  of  the  Popes,  387. 

Darnley,  his  marriage  with  Mary,  369; 
his  character,  370 ;  disgusts  his  wife, 
370;  takes  part  in  the  murder  of 
Rizzio,  371;  ill,  and  visited  by  Mary, 
373;  taken  to  Kirk-of-field,  374; 
murdered,  374. 

D'Aumale,  Due,  on  the  military  tal- 
ents of  Henry  IV.,  280. 

D'Aubign^,  Theodore  Agrippa,  on  the 
origin  of  the  civil  wars  in  France, 
268. 

Davila,  exaggerates  the  influence  of 
political  motives  on  the  Huguenot 
nobles,  259. 

Decretals,  Pseudo-Isidorian,  24. 

Deism,  its  rise  and  spread,  543. 

Denmark,  reformation  in,  171;  inter- 
vention of,  in  Germany,  425. 

De  Tocqueville  on  the  French  Revolu- 
tion, 1 ;  on  the  influence  of  religion 
on  liberty  in  America,  516 ;  on  the 
intellectual  effects  of  scepticism,  541. 

Devay,  Matthew,  the  Hungarian  refor- 
mer, 190. 

Des  Cartes,  relation  of  his  system  to 
Protestantism,  537 ;  his  personal  his- 
tory, 538 ;  his  system  favored  by  the 
Jansenists,  539;  it  is  opposed  by  the 
Sorbonne  and  the  Jesuits,  539;  his 
books  placed  on  the  Index,  539. 

Diana  of  Poitiers,  mistress  of  Henry 
II.,  257. 

Diaz,  Juan,  407. 

Dietrich,  Yeit,  on  Luther's  prayers,  121. 

Dilettanteism,  its  prevalence  in  Italy,  in 
the  17th  century,  522. 

Discipline,  "First  Book"  of,  -'>57; 
"Second  Book"  of,  378. 

Discoveries  and  inventions,  age  of,  10. 


Dollinger,  on  the  influence  of  Luther, 

163. 
Dominicans,  rise  of  the  order  of  the, 

31 ;  their  strife  with  the  Jesuits,  420. 
Donatists,  laws  against  the,  222. 
Donauwbrth,  seized  by  Bavaria,  423. 
Dorner,  his  remark  on  Luther,  163. 
Dort,  Synod  of,  English  delegates  in 

the,  434;  its  creed,  474. 
Douay,  Jesuit  establishment  in,  414. 
Drake,  Sir  Francis,  382. 
Dreux,  battle  of,  269. 
Du  Perron,  281. 
Duprat,  Chancellor,  245. 
Du  Tillet,  211. 
Dyer,  on  Servetus,  229. 

Eck,  at  the  Leipsic  disputation,  98; 
writes  against  Luther,  96. 

Eckart,  Master,  his  Pantheistic  ten- 
dency, 66. 

Edinburgh,  treaty  of,  356. 

Edward  III.,  of  England,  40;  protects 
Wickliffe,  61. 

Edward  VI.,  his  precocity,  325. 

Egmont,  his  character,  291;  his  mis- 
sion to  Spain,  297;  his  cruelty  to  the 
iconoclasts,  300;  his  execution,  303. 

Eldership,  revived  by  Calvin,  278. 

Elizabeth,  Queen,  welcomed  to  the 
throne,  330;  how  treated  by  Paul 
I V.,  330;  her  conservatism  in  religion, 
331;  her  treatment  of  Roman  Cath- 
olics, 331;  persecution  under,  312; 
her  imperious  treatment  of  her  bish- 
ops, 346;  sends  aid  to  the  Scottish 
insurgents,  356;  her  matrimonial 
plans  for  Mary,  Queen  of  Scots, 
369 ;  refuses  to  guarantee  the  succes- 
sion, 369 ;  her  professed  indignation 
at  the  treatment  of  Mary,  380 ;  dis- 
posed to  restore  her  to  her  throne, 
380;  compelled  to  support  Murray 
and  the  lords,  381 ;  Catholic  combi- 
nation against  her,  382. 

Emperors,  Roman,  favor  the  See  of 
Rome,  21. 

Empire,  German,  conflict  of  the  Papacy 
with  the,  26;  disadvantages  of,  in 
this  conflict,  26. 


INDEX. 


601 


Empire,    Roman,  supposed  to  be   re- 
stored by  Charlemagne,  23. 
England  disposed  in  the  14th  century 
to  check  Papal  aggressions,  39;  mon- 
archy, in   the  15th  century,   in,  41; 
revival  of  learning  in,  76;  jealousy 
of  the  hierarchy  in,  319;  two  parties 
under  Henry  VIII.,   in,   321;  rebel- 
lion in  (153G),  323 ;  its  desultory  con- 
flict with  Spain,   382;    defeats   the 
Armada,  382;  its  position  under  the 
Stuarts,   433;  subservience  to  Spain 
under  James   I.,  435;   its   influence 
under  Cromwell,  441;  origin  of  De- 
ism in,  543. 
England,  the  Church  of,  framing  of  its 
articles  and  prayer-book,   326;    are 
its  articles  Calvinistic,  335;  its  opin- 
ion on  the  Eucharist,  340 ;  its  doctrine 
of    predestination,    335;    makes  the 
Bible  the  rule  of  faith,  462;  Calvin's 
remarks  on,  203;  its  general  charac- 
ter, 332;  its  relation  to  the  Protestant 
churches  abroad,  332;  its  friendship 
for  the  Swiss   churches,   333. 
England,  the  Reformation  in,  how  in- 
troduced,  317;    the    peculiarity    of, 
317 ;  less  prominence  of  its  leaders, 
318;  reaction  against  it  at  the  acces- 
sion of  Mary,  327. 
Enzinas,  Jayme,  407. 
Episcopacy,  little  controversy  about  it 
among    the   lirst    Protestants,    332: 
Melancthon's  view  of,  332;  Cranmer'a 
opinion,  333;  Lord  Bacon  on,  334. 
"Episcopal  system,"  in  Germany,  494. 
Episcopius,  473. 
Episcopate,  rise  of  the,  15. 
Erasmus,  at  Oxford,  76;  the  principal 
representative    of    Humanism,    77: 
his   popularity   and   fame,   77;  com- 
pared with  Voltaire;  77:  his  attain- 
ments, 78;  compared  with  Budseus, 
78;  his  patrons  and   his  love  of  in- 
dependence, 78;  the  foe  of  supersti- 
tion, 79;  his  experience  of  monasti- 
cism,  79:  his  warfare  with  monks,  79; 
his  "Praise  of  Folly."  and  " Collo- 
quies," 79;  offends  the  Franciscans, 
80;   his  hatred  of   Pharisaism,  80; 


his  opinion  of  creeds,  80;  favors 
religious  liberty,  81;  charged  with 
heresy,  81;  his  "  Colloquies  "  con- 
demned by  the  University  of  Paris, 
81;  his  editions  of  the  Fathers,  81; 
his  edition  of  the  New  Testament 
and  commentaries,  81;  his  merits 
estimated  by  Strauss,  82;  inference 
from  the  reception  of  his  writings, 
82;  on  Luther's  writings  in  England, 
317;  applauds  the  first  movement  of 
Luther,  127;  his  caution,  127:  his 
remark  to  the  Elector  Frederic,  128 ; 
a  typical  latitudinarian,  128;  pre- 
fers Jerome  to  Augustine,  128;  his 
love  of  peace,  128;  irritated  by  the 
tone  of  Luther,  129;  his  quarrel  with 
Ulrich  von  Hutten,  129 ;  writes  on 
free-will  against  Luther,  129;  prog- 
ress of  his  alienation  from  Luther 
and  the  Reformation,  130;  his 
description  of  Farel,  210;  on  the 
influence  of  Protestantism  on  litera- 
ture, 519. 

Erastianism,  500. 

Erastians,  in  the  Westminster  Assem- 
bly, 438  . 

Eric  XIV.,  King  of  Sweden,  177. 

Eucharist,  controversy  on,  between 
Lutherans  and  Swiss,  147;  history 
of  the  doctrine,  117:  Luther's  doe- 
trine,  148;  Zwiugle's  doctrine,  148; 
efforts  to  heal  tin*  difference,  151; 
conference  at  .Marburg,  152;  mutual 
misunderstanding  of  the  parties,  L53; 
Melancthon  abandons  the  Lutheran 
doctrine  of  the,  l * ; l :  great  contro- 
verted topic  among  the  reformers, 
the  different  view?  of,  ;(40; 
opinion  of  the  Church  <-\  England 
on,  340;  Cranmer's    view   of,    840; 

Jewel's   vie'.V    of.    -'III. 

Europe,  its  condition  after  the  reform- 
ing councils,  44. 
Evelyn,  on  the  court  Of  Charles  II-.  M  I. 

Eaber,  398. 

Fagius,  a  professor  at  I  lambrid 
Farel,   his    character,    209;    preaches 
Protestantism  in  Geneva,  909;  how 


602 


INDEX. 


described  by  Erasmus,  210 ;  goes  to 
Briconnet,  243. 

Ferdinand  I.,  becomes  King  of  Hun- 
gary, 189;  faithful  to  the  Peace  of 
Augsburg,  422. 

Ferdinand  II.,  Emperor,  his  fanaticism, 
421. 

Ferrara,  Protestantism  in,  392. 

Feudal  system,  occasions  the  conflict  of 
the  Papacy  and  the  Empire,  26. 

Ficinus,  Marsilius,  542. 

Flaminio,  392;  his  philosophy,  72. 

Florence,  Protestantism  in,  393. 

Fontaine bleau,  assembly  of  notablesat, 
262. 

Fontenay,  battle  of,  85. 

France,  the  Reformation  in,  emanated 
from  Humanism,  242;  two  parties  in 
the  court,  245;  its  disciples  protect- 
ed by  Margaret,  Queen  of  Navarre, 
246;  doubtful  character  of  its  pros- 
pects, 248:  how  regarded  by  Henry 
II.,  254;  its  progress  in  his  reign, 
254;  monarchy  in  the  15th  century 
in,  44;  Rome,  Renaissance  and  the 
Reformation  offered  to  its  choice, 
249;  it  supports  Philip  the  Fair 
against  Boniface  VIII.,  38;  what  it 
acquired  by  the  Peace  of  Westphalia, 
433;  its  literature  in  the  age  of  Louis 
XIV.,  525;  polity  of  the  Huguenot 
churches  in,  498;  effect  of  the  perse- 
cution of  the  Huguenots  on,  454; 
effect  of  religious  persecution  on, 
544. 

Francis  I.,  he  abandons  the  Pragmatic. 
Sanction,  49;  his  struggle  with 
Charles  V.,  49;  not  chosen  emperor, 
and  why,  106 ;  grounds  of  his  disa- 
greement with  Charles  V.,  106;  his 
strength  compared  with  that  of 
Charles,  106;  captured  at  Pavia, 
116 ;  labors  to  prevent  the  union  of 
Protestants  and  Catholics  in  Ger- 
many, 158;  his  vacillation  with  re- 
gard to  reform,  251 ;  its  consequences, 
251;  boasts  of  the  religious  unity  of 
France,  252 ;  enraged  by  the  placards, 
252;  invites  Melancthon  to  Paris, 
252;  the  patron  of  letters,  243;  es- 


tablishes the  College  of  the  Three 
languages,  247 ;  opposes  the(Sorbonne 
and  Parliament,  247;  seeks  to  con- 
ciliate the  clergy,  248;  imprisons 
Beda,  248;  approaches  nearer  to  the 
Protestants,  249 ;  sanctions  the  creed 
of  the  Sorbonne,  253;  opposes  the 
union  of  Catholics  and  Protestants, 
396. 

Francis  II.,  his  accession,  256;  subject 
to  the  Guises,  257;  death  of,  263. 

Franciscans,  rise  of  the  order  of  the, 
31;  offended  by  Erasmus,  80. 

Francis  of  Sickingen,  his  defeat  and 
death,  133. 

Franks,  alliance  Of  the  Papacy  with, 
22;  their  protection  to  Boniface,  23. 

Frederic  Barbarossa,  his  submission  to 
Pope  Alexander  III.,  29. 

Frederic  II.,  the  Emperor,  3S7;  his  re- 
lation to  Innocent  III.,  30. 

Frederic  I.,  of  Denmark,  his  policy 
respecting  Protestantism,  173. 

Frederic  V.,  Elector  Palatine,  made 
King  of  Bohemia,  424;  robbed  of 
the  electorate,  425. 

Frederic,  Elector  of  Saxony,  founds 
the  University  of  Wittenberg,  75; 
the  imperial  office  offered  to,  105; 
why  declined  by,  105;  regent  in 
North  Germany,  106;  disposed  to 
protect  Luther,  106:  warns  Luther 
not  to  leave  the  Wartburg,  113. 

Friends  of  God,  66. 

Frobenius,  82. 

Froude,  his  estimate  of  Henry  VIII., 
324:  on  the  effect  of  the  Reforma- 
tion in  Scotland,  535. 

Galileo,  the  persecution  of,  523. 

Gallicanism,  its  theory  of  the  Papacy, 
42;  where  it  places  infallibility,  43; 
its  type  of  reform,  58 ;  four  proposi- 
tions of,  450. 

Gardiner,  renounces  the  doctrine  of  the 
king's  supremacy,  328. 

Geneva,  how  governed  in  the  Middle 
Ages,  207 ;  recognized  as  a  city  of 
the  empire,  208;  under  the  Dukes  of 
Savoy,  208;  freed  from  Savoy,  208; 


INDEX. 


603 


divided  into  two  parties,  208 ;  drives 
out  the  bishop  and  becomes  Protes- 
tant, 209;  its  discontent  with  the 
Protestant  regime,  210;  low  state  of 
morals  in.  210;  banishes  Calvin  and 
the  other  preachers,  213;  recalls  Cal- 
vin, 210;  system  established  by  Cal- 
vin in,  217;  its  severity,  222;  a 
religious  centre  under  Calvin,  23-4; 
academy  of,  23-4;  delivered  from  fac- 
tion, 235;  an  asylum  for  persecuted 
Frenchmen,  253;  sends  books  and 
colporteurs  into  France,  253;  how 
regarded  by  Huguenot  martyrs,  25G. 

Genin,  on  Margaret  of  Navarre,  246. 

Gentili,  478. 

George,  Duke  of  Saxony,  99. 

German  nations,  their  ready  reception 
of  Christianity,  8;  the  Christianity 
which  they  received,  8. 

Germany,  Papal  agressions  upon,  in 
the  14th  century,  39;  influence  of 
Mystics  in,  in  the  14th  century, 67 ; 
character  of  the  revival  of  learning 
in,  74;  character  of  its  people,  85; 
their  reception  of  the  Gospel,  85 ;  its 
early  resistance  of  the  clergy,  85; 
its  religion  described  by  Tacitus,  85; 
Mysticism  in,  80;  why  it  gave  birth 
to  the  Reformation,  83;  its  political 
condition  at  the  beginning  of  the 
Reformation,  103;  the  electoral  sys- 
tem in,  103;  power  of  the  Diet, 
103;  private  wars,  103;  efforts  under 
Maximilian  to  improve  the  constitu- 
tion, 104;  their  result,  104;  ferment 
and  discord  in,  104;  Charles  V., 
elected  emperor  of,  105;  how  re- 
garded by  Charles  V.,  107;  its  com- 
plaints against  Pope  Julius  II.,  45. 

Germany,  the  information  in,  Diet  of 
Spires  (152i!)  refuses  to  stifle  it,  L16; 
alliance  of  Catholic  princes  and  bish- 
ops at  Ratisbon  to  check  it,  115; 
sprang  from  the  people,  422. 

"German  theology,"  Luther's  estimate 
of  it,  GG. 

Gerson,  505;  his  theory  of  the  Episco- 
pate, 42. 


Ghent,  pacification  of,  30G. 

Gibbon,  on   the  influence  of  Erasmus, 

128. 
Granvelle,  Bishop  of  Arras,  his  charac- 
ter, 291. 
Gladstone,  on  Church  and  State,  502. 
Gomarus,  his  theology,  473. 
Greek  Church,  more  and  more  distinct 
from  the  Latin,  22. 

Gregorovius,  on  the  spirit  of  national- 
ism, 31. 

Gregory  I.,  he  sends  missionaries  to 
the  Anglo-Saxons,  23;  on  the  read- 
ing of  the  Bible  by  the  laity,  531. 

Gregory  VII.,  supported  by  divisions  in 
Germany,  28. 

Gregory  IX.,  Pope,  his  vindictiveness 
towards  Frederic  II.,  27. 

Gregory  X..  Pope,  his  direction  to  the 
German  Electors,  29. 

Gregory  XVI.,  Pope,  519. 

Grimm,  on  the  religion  of  the  Germans, 
S5. 

Grindal,  his  opinion  on  the  use  of  vest- 
ments by   the  clergy,    344. 

Grotius,  on  the  Atonement,  474;  his 
efforts  for  the  reunion  of  Protestants 
and  Catholics,  482;  on  the  Deca- 
logue, 483;  died  a  Protestant,  484. 

Gualter,  his  friendship  with  English 
divines,  333. 

Guicciardini,  on  Leo  X.,  40. 

Guise,  Claude  of,  257. 

Guise,  the  family  of,  their  history,  257; 
their  control  over  Francis  II.,  258; 
their  connection  with  Diana  of  Poit- 
iers,  258;  dissatisfaction  of  the  Bour- 
bons and  Chatillons  with,  258. 

Guise,  Charles,  Cardinal  of.  J 

Guise,  Duke  Francis  of.  2~>r;  avenges 
the  Amboise  conspiracy.  2  il  :  one  of 
Triumvirate,  264;  perpetrates  the 
massacre  of  Vassy,  267;  received  in 
Paris  with  acclaim,  267;  assassinated, 
269;  bis  assassination  condemned  by 
Calvin,  269. 

Guise,  Henry  of,  plots  the  assassination 
of  Coligny,  274;  organizes  the  I  ach- 
olic League,  278. 


004 


INDEX. 


Guizot,  his  view  of  the  Reformation, 
4;  his  judgment  respecting  Calvin 
and  Servetus,  231. 

Gustavus  Adolphus,  his  intervention 
in  German}',  428 ;  how  regarded  by- 
Brandenburg  and  Saxony,  429 ;  his 
aims,  429 ;  his  death  at  Lutzen,  429 ; 
his  relations  to  Richelieu,  430. 

Hadrian  IV., his  bull  with  regard  to  Ire- 
land, 383. 

Hallam,  on  the  anti-hierarchical  litera- 
ture, 33 ;  on  Luther's  bad  Latin,  125 ; 
on  Cranmer,  322;  on  the  Hampton 
Court  Conference,  435. 

Hamilton,  Patrick,  353. 

Hamilton,  Sir  William,  133. 

Hampton  Court  Conference,  434. 

Hare,  on  the  character  and  position  of 
Luther,  87. 

Hazlitt,  on  the  Elizabethan  authors, 
533. 

Heeren,  515. 

Hefele,  on  the  massacre  of  the  Albi- 
genses,  56 ;  his  criticism  of  Llorente, 
403. 

Hegel,  on  Luther's  Bible,  112;  on  the 
German  Reformation,  86. 

Heilbronn,  Treaty  of,  430. 

Henry,  the  Deacon,  54. 

Henry  II.,  of  France,  his  attitude  to- 
wards Protestantism,  254;  engages 
in  persecution,  255;  his  death,  255. 

Henry  III.,  of  France,  his  account  of 
the  massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew, 
275,  276;  his  character,  278;  makes 
peace  with  the  Huguenots  and  Poli- 
tiques,  278;  assassinates  the  Guises, 
279;  his  assassination,  280. 

Henry  III.,  of  Germany,  he  intervenes 
in  the  affairs  of  the  Papacy,  251. 

Henry  IV.  of  France  sallies  forth 
(Prince  of  Navarre)  with  Coligny 
from  Rochelle,  271 ;  excommunicated 
by  Sixtus  V.,  279;  his  war  with  the 
League,  280 ;  wins  the  battle  of  Ivry, 
280;  his  contest  with  Alexander  of 
Parma,  280;  his  abjuration,  281; 
effects  of  it,  282;  his  administration, 
283;  his  foreign  policy,  283;   grants 


the  Edict  of  Nantes,  283 ;  his  acces- 
sion a  blow  to  the  Catholic  reaction, 
421;  his  plans  at  the  time  of  his 
death,  447. 

Henry  IV.,  of  Germany,  weakened  by 
divisions  in  Germany,  28;  at  Ca- 
nossa,  28. 

Henry  VII.,  of  England,  44. 

Henry  VIII.,  his  controversy  with  Lu- 
ther, 124;    tone   of  his  book,   126 
Luther's   letter  of  apology  to,  126 
his  application  for  a  divorce,  319 
made  head  of  the  Church  of  England, 
321 ;  his   divorce  and  marriage  with 
Anne  Boleyn,  320;  his  divorce  de- 
creed  by   Cranmer,   320;    publishes 
the  Bible  in  English,  323;  proclaims 
the  ten  articles,  323;  his  persecution 
of  Protestants,  324;  executes  Anne 
Boleyn,  324;  his  marriage  with  Anna 
of  Cleve,  324;  his  character,   325; 
effect  of  his  death  on  religious  par- 
ties, 325. 

Herbert,  Lord,  543. 

Herzog,  on  the  Waldenses,  57. 

Hesse,  plan  for  the  Church  constitu- 
tion of,  492. 

Hierarchy,  attacked  in  the  14th  century, 
41 ;  its  government  discarded  by  the 
Reformers,  488. 

High  commission,  court  of,  331. 

Hildebrand,  his  reforming  plan,  26. 

Hincmar,  of  Rheims,  humbled  by  Nich- 
olas L,  25. 

History,  modern, most  prominent  events 
of,  1. 

Holland,  benefit  of  the  Reformation  to, 
535. 

Homberg,  synod  of,  492. 

Hoogstraten,  his  persecution  of  Reuch- 
lin,  74. 

Hooper,  had  resided  at  Zurich,  342;  is 
imprisoned,  343;  his  martyrdom,  328. 

Hooker,  on  the  validity  'of  Presbyte- 
rian ordination,  334;  contrasted  with 
Whitgift,  339;  his  treatise,  347;  on 
Church  and  State,  348,  500. 

Horn,  his  execution,  303. 

Hosack,  on  Mary,  Queen  of  Scots,  377- 

Humanism,  in  Italy,  its  lack  of  heroism, 


INDEX. 


605 


.183;  its  polemical  ferocity,  390;  how 
fostered  in  France,  2-43. 

Humanists,  they  rally  to  defend  Reuch- 
lin,  75;  their  relation  to  the  Univer- 
sities, 75. 

Huguenots,  persecution  of,  under  Henry 
II.,  254;  their  number  in  1558,  254; 
effect  of  persecution  on,  255;  become 
a  political  party,  256 ;  a  measure  of 
toleration  granted  them  (15G2),  26G; 
their  union  with  the  great  nobles,  259 ; 
their  long  patience,  260 ;  plot  for  their 
destruction  at  Orleans,  263;  origin  of 
the  name,  264;  belonged  to  what 
classes,  264;  iconoclasm  by  the,  268; 
acted  in  self-defense  in  the  civil  wars, 
268 ;  provoked  to  resistance  by  illegal 
violence,  268;  anticipate  an  attack 
by  taking  up  arms,  270 ;  their  forti- 
tude after  Jarnac  and  Moncontour, 
272 ;  how  affected  by  the  slaughter 
of  St.  Bartholomew,  272 ;  after  the 
abjuration  of  Henry  IV.,  283;  pro- 
tected by  the  Edict  of  Nantes,  283; 
become  a  defensive  party,  284;  insur- 
rection of  (1621),  448;  persecution 
of,  by  Louis  XIV.,  453. 

Hume,  on  the  cause  of  the  Reformation, 
4. 

Hundeshagen,  on  Luther  as  a  professor, 
89. 

Hungary,  spread  of  Protestantism  in, 
189;  civil  war  in,  189;  Eucharistic 
strife  in,  190. 

Hunt,  on  the  Calvinism  of  the  English 
Reformers,  336. 

Huntley,  Earl  of,  358. 

Huss,  by  whom  influenced,  61;  works 
on,  61;  his  spirit  and  opinions,  62; 
Luther's  declaration  respecting,  99; 
safe-conduct  of,  62;  his  execution, 
303;  effect  of  it  in  Bohemia,  177. 

Hussites,  crusades  against  the,  63. 

Hutchinson,  Mrs.,  on  the  doctrine  of 
Predestination,  434. 

Hutten,  he  aids  Reuchlin,  75;  one  of 
the  authors  of  the  Epist.  Obsc.  Viro- 
rum,  75. 

Hymns,  Luther's,  121,200;  Calvin's, 
206. 


Iceland,  Reformation  in,  176. 

Iconoclasm  in  Scotland,  355;  by  the 
Huguenots,  268;  in  the  Netherlands, 
299;  England  spared  from,  350. 

"  Imitation  of  Christ,"  character  of  it, 
67. 

Indulgence,  declaration  of,  444. 

Indulgences,  history  of,  92;  doctrine 
of  Aquinas  respecting,  92;  connected 
with  the  treasury  of  supererogatory 
merits,  by  Aquinas  and  Alexander 
of  Hales,  92;  doctrine  of  Pope  Six- 
tus  IV.,  93;  how  sold  by  Tetzel,  93; 
Luther's  protest  against  the  trade  in, 
93;  his  doctrine  of,  93;  bull  of  Leo 
X.  respecting,  97;  Zwingle  preaches 
against  the  sale  of,  139. 

Independents,  their  rise  and  tenets, 
347 ;  in  the  Westminster  Assembly, 
437 ;  attain  to  power,  439 ;  their  pol- 
ity in  New  England,  507. 

Index  Prohibitorius,  405,  526;  au- 
thors in  the,  527. 

Innocent  III.,  carries  the  Papal  power 
to  its  height,  29 ;  his  idea  of  a  Papal 
theocracy,  29 ;  on  the  relation  of  the 
Church  to  the  State,  29 ;  raises  up, 
and  excommunicates  Otho  IV.,  30; 
elevates  Frederic  II.,  30;  reduces 
John  of  England  to  submission,  30; 
his  claims,  30;  his  legates,  31;  sup- 
ported by  the  mendicant  orders,  31; 
his  crusade  against  the  Albigenses, 
56;  for  the  enforcement  of  uniform- 
ity, 223. 

Innocent  VIII. ,  Pope,  his  character,  45. 

Innocent  X.,  his  controversy  with  Louis 
XIV.,  450. 

Inquisition  used  against  the  Albjgenses, 
56;  its  form  in  the  Netherlands  297; 
its  effect,  297 ;  reorganized  in  Italy, 
403;  its  vigilance  in  Spain,  409. 
Inquisitors,  origin  of  the  term,  223. 
Interim,  Leipsic,  165;  opposed  by  Cal- 
vin, 214. 

Intolerance,  history  of,  222;  in  the 
Roman  Empire,  223;  in  the  Middle 
Ages,  223;  influence  of  the  .Mosaic 
legislation  on,  223;  not  favored  by 
Zwingle,  224:  expressions  of  Lather 


606 


INDEX. 


against,  224;  advocated  by  Calvin, 
224;  in  England  under  Elizabeth, 
312;  opposed  by  William  of  Orange, 
313;  exercised  in  Protestant  coun- 
tries, 516;  incongruous  with  the  ge- 
nius of  Protestantism,  517;  how  far 
Catholics  are  responsible  for,  518. 

Ireland,  Protestantism  in,  383;  Protes- 
tant hierarchy  established  in,  383; 
effect  of  the  Catholic  reaction  on, 
384;  Lord  Bacon's  advice  respecting, 
384. 

Irenasus,  on  the  visible  church,  17. 

Italy,  revival  of  learning  in,  67;  char- 
acter of  the  revival  of  learning  in, 
72;  religion  in,  in  the  15th  century, 
73;  tone  of  ethical  feeling  in,  in  the 
loth  century,  73;  influence  of  its 
culture  in  France,  243;  its  condition 
in  1  he  15th  century,  386 ;  effect  of 
classical  studies  in,  3S9;  character 
of  Humanists  in,  389 ;  how  changed 
intellectually  after  the  Reformation, 
412;  interest  in  natural  science 
springs  up  in,  412;  effect  of  the 
Catholic  reaction  on,  412;  Antitrini- 
tanans  in,  477. 

Jacob,  on  the  origin  of  the  Episcopate, 
15. 

Jagellon,  house  of,  189. 

James  V.,  of  Scotland,  Protestant  mar- 
tyrs in  his  reign,  353. 

James  I.,  of  England,  his  birth,  372; 
crowned  at  Stirling,  378 ;  his  reign, 
433 ;  his  treatment  of  the  Puritans, 
434;  at  the  Hampton  Court  Con- 
ference, 434;  sends  delegates  to  the 
Synod  of  Dort,  434 ;  his  attempt  to 
impose  Episcopacy  on  the  Scottish 
Church,  435;  his  opinion  of  Laud, 
436. 

James  II. ,  his  arbitrary  principles, 
444;  his  court  of  high  commission, 
444 ;  his  declaration  for  liberty  of  con- 
science, 444;  loses  his  crown,  445. 

Jansenism,  origin  of,  451. 

Jansenists,  persecution  of  them,  453; 
on  the  reading  of  the  Bible  by  the 
laity,  531. 


Jan senius,  451. 

Jeffries,  Judge,  529. 

Jerome,  of  Prague,  his  execution,  62. 

Jesuits,  order  of,  its  origin,  398;  its 
organization,  400;  its  influence,  400; 
its  doctrine  of  regicide,  505;  its 
educational  influence,  413;  result  of 
its  efforts  against  Protestantism, 
414;  its  influence  in  France,  414; 
at  Douay,  414;  in  Sweden,  414;  in 
Austria,  423;  effect  of  its  training 
on  the  intellect,  529 ;  decay  of  its 
zeal,  452;  its  lax  ethical  maxims, 
452;  its  strife  with  the  Dominicans, 
420;  its  suppression,  517. 

Jesuitism,  of  Loyola,  not  that  of  the 
"  Provincial  Letters,"  400. 

Jewel,  his  opinion  on  the  Eucharist, 
341. 

John,  Don,  of  Austria,  his  government 
in  the  Netherlands,  300 ;  his  death, 
306. 

John  of  Damascus,  teaches  transub- 
stantiation,  147. 

John,  King  of  England,  humbled  by 
Innocent  III.,  30. 

John  of  Paris,  maintains  the  rights  of 
the  civil  authority,  40. 

John  XXII. ,  his  treatment  of  the  Em- 
peror Louis  of  Bavaria,  39 ;  charged 
with  heresy  by  the  Minorites,  41. 

John  XXIIL,  attempts  to  control  the 
Council  of  Pisa,  43. 

John  of  Savoy,  bishop  of  Geneva,  208. 

John,  Elector  of  Saxony,  his  noble  con- 
duct at  Augsburg  (1530),  120. 

John  III.,  king  of  Sweden,  177. 

John  Frederic,  Elector,  captured  at 
Miihlberg,  164;  released,  168. 

John  of  Zapolya,  189. 

Johnson,  Dr.  Samuel,  on  convocation 
in  the  English  Church,  504. 

Jonas,  Justus,  341. 

Jortin,  his  Life  of  Erasmus,  77. 

Julius  II.,  Pope,  his  character,  45; 
complaints  of  Germany  against,  45; 
covert  reference  to,  in  the  "Collo- 
quies" of  Erasmus,  80. 

Julius  III.,  Pope,  favorable  to  Charles 
V.,  166. 


INDEX. 


GO' 


Jus  Reformandi,  granted  in  the  Peace 
of  Augsburg,  168;  how  modified  in 
the  treaty  of  Westphalia,  -432. 

Justification,  departure  from  the  Pau- 
line doctrine  of,  1G;  spread  in  Italy 
of  the  Protestant  doctrine  of,  392; 
Protestant  doctrine  of,  in  Spain,  408  ; 
first  point  of  controversy  between 
Catholics  and  Protestants,  459;  Prot- 
estant doctrine  of,  40 1 ;  Roman  Cath- 
olic doctrine  of,  4G3. 

Kanipschulte,  his   Life  of  Calvin,  192. 

Keble,  John,  his  edition  of  Hooker,  334, 

Kempis,  Thomas  a,  his  '"  Imitation  of 
Christ,"  G7. 

Kepler,  his  view  of   Astrology,  3. 

Knox,  John,  returns  to  Scotland 
(1559),  353;  his  early  life,  354;  in 
the  castle  of  St.  Andrews,  354;  called 
to  preach,  354;  a  captive  in  France, 
354;  preaches  in  North  England, 
354;  declines  a  bishopric  in  England, 
354;  at  Frankfort,  354;  at  Geneva, 
355;  his  book  on  the  "Regimen  of 
Women,"  355;  returns  to  Scotland 
(1555),  355;  preaches  against  idola- 
try, 355;  detested  by  Elizabeth, 
35G;  his  disagreement  with  the  lords, 
357;  his -opposition  to  the  Queen's 
mass,  350;  his  interview  with  her, 
360;  his  debate  with  her  on  the  limits 
of  civil  obedience,  361;  preaches 
against  dancing  at  Holyrood,  363; 
another  interview  with  Mary,  363; 
further  discussion  with  her,  364; 
preaches  against  her  projected  mar- 
riage, 365;  she  summons  him  to  her 
presence,  36G;  cited  before  the  privy 
council,  366;  his  description  of  the 
scene,  366;  temporary  breach  with 
Murray,  367;  his  public  prayer  for 
the  Queen,  367;  no  advocate  of  tol- 
eration, 368;  his  form  of  worship, 
379;    his  last  days,  380. 

La  Chaise,  454. 

Laical   spirit,  how    manifested   before 

the  Reformation,  83. 
Lainez,  advocates  popular  sovereignty, 

606. 


Lambert,  his  Church  constitution  for 
Hesse,  4!)2;  Luther's  judgment  of 
it,  193. 

Languages,  rise  of  the  national,  33. 

Langland,  William,  his  poem,  34. 

La  Renaudie, 

Lasco,  John  a,  his  career,  and  work  in 
Poland,  187. 

Lateran,  5th  Council  of  the,  72. 

Latimer,  his  martyrdom,  328. 

Laud,  maintains  a  jwi •<■  divino  Episco- 
pacy, 336;  his  policy, 430;  .lames  I.'s 
opinion  of,  436;  bis  censorship  of  the 
press,  528. 

Laurent,  his  view  of  the  Reformation, 
6;  on  the  state  of  religion  in  the  16th 
century,  8. 

Law,  International,  progress  of  the 
science  of.  540. 

Lawrence,  Archbishop,  on  the  Angli- 
can articles,   335. 

League,  Catholic,  in  France,  organized, 
278;  it  commences  war,  278;  refuses 
to  acknowledge  Henry  IV.,  JT'J;  war 
with  Henry  IV.,  280;  its  relations  to 
Spain,  280;  Catholic,  in  Germany, 
(1538),  157;  Catholic,  in  Germany, 
(1609),  424. 

League  of  Smalcald,  formed,  156: 
weakened  by  discord,  158. 

Learning,  the  revival  of,  begins  in 
Italy,  67;  influence  of  Dante,  Pa 
trarch,  and  Boccaccio  on,  67. 

Lecky,  on  religious  persecution,  225. 

Lefevre,  his  writings,  243;  bisd< 
244;  Hies  to  Strasburg,  245;  on  geo- 
graphical discoveries  and  reform,  88- 

Legates,  sent  out  by  [nnOC   nl   III.,  31. 

Legists,  their  anti-hieraivhiral  spirit, 
36;  the  allies  of  monarchy,  36. 

Leibnitz,  his  efforts  for  the  reunion  of 
churches,  484;  his  correspondence 
with  Landgrave  Ernest,  and  with 
Bossnet,  484;  his  remedy  for  divis- 
ions, 485;  his  ecclesiastical  i 
486. 

Lcipsic.  Disputation  at,  *JS;  its  effect 
on  Luther,  99. 

Leo  L,  his  influence  on  the  council  of 
Chalcedon,    19;   founds  the   Soman 


008 


INDEX. 


primacy  on   succession  from  Peter, 
20;  his  character,  21. 

Leo  X.,  calls  the  Reformation  a  quarrel 
of  monks,  3;  Luther's  letter  to  him, 
100;  excommunicates  Luther,  101; 
his  bull  on  the  subject  of  indulgences, 
97;  his  opposition  to  the  election  of 
Charles  V.,  Ill;  his  agreement  with 
him,  111;  insists  on  the  burning  of 
heretics,  223 ;  his  character,  46 ;  Sarpi 
on,  46;  Pallavicini  on,  47;  Muratori 
on,  47;  Guicciardini  on,  47;  Roscoe 
on,  47. 

Leo,  H.,  his  view  of  the  Reformation,  4. 

Le  Tellier,  father,  453,  455. 

Leyden,  siege  of,  305;  the  Pilgrim 
church  of,  439. 

L'Hospital,  favors  toleration,  264. 

Liberty,  religious,  favored  by  Erasmus, 
81.     "See  Intolerance." 

Libertines,  the  party  of,  at  Geneva, 
220:  their  strength  when  Servetus 
was  tried,  230;  finally  crushed  by 
Calvin,  233. 

Lightfoot,  J.,  438. 

Lightfoot,  J.  B.,  on  the  origin  of  the 
Episcopate,  15. 

Lingard,  on  Cranmer,  329. 

Literature,  character  of  the  vernacular, 
in  the  Middle  Age-s,  33 ;  its  decline  in 
Spain,  520;  in  Italy,  521;  English, 
in  the  Elizabethan  age,  533. 

Iiittre-,  on  the  word  "Huguenot,"  264. 

Livonia,  Protestantism  in,  185. 

Llorente,  his  history  of  the  Inquisition, 
403;  Hefele's  criticism  of,  403. 

Lollards,  in  England  before  the  Refor- 
mation, 316;  listen  to  John  Knox, 
315. 

Lombards,  they  threaten  Rome,  23. 

Longjumeau,  peace  of.  270. 

Lope  de  Vega,  520. 

Lords  of  the  congregation,  determine 
to  stop  persecution,  355;  refuse  to 
devote  church  property  to  schools, 
etc.,  357. 

Lorenzo  II.,  of  Florence,  256. 

Lorraine,  Cardinal  Charles  of,  his  rea- 
sons for  desiring  a  colloquy  at  Poissy. 
265. 


Lothair  II.,  disciplined  bv  Nicholas  I., 
25. 

Louis  of  Bavaria,  how  treated  by  John 
XXIL,  39. 

Louis  de  Berquin,  his  death,  248. 

Louis,  Count  of  Nassau,  297;  defeated 
and  slain,  305. 

Louis  II.,  King  of  Hungary,  his  death, 
189. 

Louis  IX.,  intercedes  for  Frederic  II.,  27. 

Louis  XIV.,  his  alliance  with  Charles 
II. ,  443;  his  aims,  450;  his  contro- 
versy with  Innocent  X.,  450;  sup- 
ported by  the  French  clergy  (1682), 
450 ;  agreement  with  Innocent  XII., 
451;  his  persecution  of  the  Hugue- 
nots, 453 ;  under  the  influence  of  La 
Chaise,  454;  revokes  the  edict  of 
Nantes,  454;  success  and  ultimate 
failure  of  his  foreign  policy,  455. 

Louisa,  of  Savoy,  245. 

Loyola,  Ignatius,  his  history,  398;  his 
"  Spiritual  Exercises,"  399. 

Liibeck,  the  Reformation  in,  174. 

Lutzen,  battle  of,  429. 

Luther,  message  of  Maximilian  I.  re- 
specting, 49;  on  the  opinions  of 
Wessel,  63;  a  student  of  Occam,  71; 
his  doctrine  of  the  Lord's  Supper 
suggested  by  D'Ailly,  71;  the  hero 
of  the  Reformation,  87;  his  birth 
and  parentage,  87;  studies  at  Mag- 
deburg, Eisenach,  Erfurt,  88;  enters 
the  convent  at  Erfurt,  88 ;  his  motive, 
88;  made  professor  at  Wittenberg, 
89 ;  his  studies  and  growing  reputa- 
tion, 89;  his  religious  experience, 
89;  aided  by  Staupitz,  90;  studies 
Augustine  and  Tauler,  90;  sees  that 
justification  is  by  faith,  90;  visits 
Rome,  90;  his  delight  in  the  Bible, 
91 ;  gradual  progress  of  his  mind,  91 ; 
preaches  against  Tetzel,  92 ;  posts  his 
ninety-five  Theses,  92;  their  contents, 
93;  conscientious  in  his  movement, 
94;  had  no  thought  of  renouncing  the 
Pope  or  the  Church,  94;  commotion 
caused  by  his  Theses,  95;  replies  to 
the  attacks  of  Prierias,  Tetzel,  and 
Eck,  96;  is  summoned  to  Rome,  96; 


INDEX. 


GOO 


interviews  with  Cajetan  at  Augsburg, 
9(5;  declines  to  retract  his  declara- 
tions, 96;  appeals  to  the  Pope,  better 
informed,  96;  his  doctrine  denied  in 
a  hull  of  Leo  X.,  97;  appeals  from  the 
I'ope  to  a  genera]  council,  97;  con- 
cludes a  truce  with  MiltitZ,  07:  takes 
part  in  the  Leipsic  Disputation,  !)7 ; 
accompanied  by  Melancthon,  07;  his 
geniality  and  humor,  98;  hi.- declara- 
tions at  Leipsic,!*!):  how  influenced  by 
the  disputation,  9!) ;  he  appeals  to  the 
laity;  his  address  to  the  nobles,  100; 
6trikes  at  the  distinction  between  lay- 
man and  priest,  100:  his  treatise  on  the 
Babylonian  captivity  of  the  Church, 
100;  attacks  transubstantiation,  100; 
his  letter  to  Leo  X.,100;  his  sermon 
on  the  freedom  of  a  Christian  man, 
101;  his  mind  in  a  state  of  transition 
in  respect'  to  Papal  and  Church 
authority,  101  :  excommunicated, 
101;  burns  the  Bull,  101;  political 
sympathy  with,  L02;  literary  support 
of,  102;  seconded  by  Ulrich  Von 
Hutten,  103:  protected  by  Frederic 
the  Wise,  10fi;  summoned  to  the  Diet 
of  Worms,  108;  his  journey,  108; 
appears  before  the  Diet,  109;  why  he 
asked  for  delay,  110;  refuses  tore- 
cant,  110;  decree  against  him,  111; 
motives  of  it,  111;  under  the  ban  of 
the  Church  and  the  empire,  112;  in 
the  Wartburg,  112;  translates  the 
New  Testament,  112;  character  of 
his  translation  of  the  Bible,  112; 
returns  to  Wittenberg,  112;  quells 
the  disorders  there,  111:  his  conser- 
vatism with  regard  to  rites,  113;  his 
reply  to  the  warning  of  the  elector, 
113;  his  herculean  labors,  114;  his 
rapid  composition,  114;  his  do- 
mestic character,  124;  his  opposition 
to  armed  resistance,  118;  at  ( '<>- 
burg,  119;  his  letters  from  there, 
120;  encourages  Melancthon,  121; 
his  prayers,  121 ;  on  ceremonies,  L22; 
his  marriage,  123;  commotion  caused 
by  it,  123;  his  controversy  with  Henry 
VIII.,  124:  his  vehemence,  121;  his 

39 


letter  of  apology  to  Henry  VHT  , 
120;  his  relations  to  Erasmus,  127; 
his  opinion  of  Jerome  and  Angus 
tine,  12°;  irritates  Erasmus,  129; 
controversy  with  him  on  the  will,  129^ 
his  relations  with  him  afterwards, 
130;  how  far  right  in  his  judgment! 
of  Erasmus,  I'll:  easily  misrepre- 
sented, and  why,  132;  on  the  peas- 
ants' war,  I'll:  contrasted  with  Zwin- 
gle,  111:  a  man  of  the  people,  14.V. 
hut  stands  aloof  from  politics,  145, 
preceded  Zwingle  in  breaking  with 
the  Papacy,  1  hi:  his  doctrine  of  the 
Lord'-  Supper,  1  IS:  his  hostility  to 
the  Zwinglian  doctrine,  149 ;  grounds 
of  it.  149;  derives  arguments  from 
Occam,  151;  at  the  conference,  at 
Marburg,  152;  softened  feeling  to- 
wards  the  Zwinglians,  153;  renews  hit 
attack  upon  them,  L53;  waives  his  op- 
position to  armed  resistance,  156;  his 
death,  151):  his  last  days,  L59;  hi* 
conflict  with  the  jurists,  M0;  his  re- 
lations to  .Melancthon,  1G0;  his  power 
and  influence,  103;  remarks  of  I  >or- 
ner  and  1)1  dinger  on,  IG3;  his  letter 
to  Polish  Lutherans,  186;  Calvin 
compared  with,  20  1:  Calvin's  re- 
marks on,  211:  his  opinion  of  Cal- 
vin's letter  to  Sadolet,  216;  on  the 
sermons  of  Huss,  62;  his  hymn  on 
the  martyrs  of  Brussels,  287;  recep- 
tion of  his  writings  in  England,  317; 
his  writings  circulated  in  Italy,  390; 
in  Spain,  407;  his  commentary  on 
the  Galatians,  461;  his  catechisms, 
491;  on  the  Synod  of  Homburg, 
493;  on  the  nature  of  law-,  I.M;  <>n 
the  observance  Of  Sunday,  483;  on 
Aristotle,  536;  his  criticism  of  the 
canon,  5  15. 
Lutheranism,  not  suited  to  Frai 
Lutherans,  effect  of  their  hostility  to 
<  lalvinism  on  the,  122. 

Macaulav.  on  ( 'rainier.  821  ;  on  ( 'hurvh 
and    State,    503;   his    comparison    of 

Catholic  and  Protestant  nations,  M0. 
Macchiavelli,  his  "  Prince,"  73. 


610 


INDEX. 


Mackintosh,  on  Henry  VIII.,  324. 

Madrid,  Peace  of  (1526),  116. 

Magdeburg,  resists  the  Interim  and 
the  Emperor,  165. 

Mair,  John,  354. 

Manieheans,  55;  laws  against,  223. 

Marburg,  conference  at,  152. 

Margaret,  Queen  of  Navarre,  her  court 
visited  by  Calvin,  196;  her  mystical 
and  reformatory  tendencies,  245 ;  her 
writings,  246;  protects  the  Protes- 
tants, 246;  Calvin's  letter  to,  247. 

Margaret,  of  Parma,  made  Regent  in 
the  Netherlands,  291;  her  dislike  of 
Alva,  301. 

Margaret,  of  Savoy,  Regent  in  the 
Netherlands,  not  disposed  to  persecu- 
tion, 288. 

Maria  Queen  of  Hungary,  Regent  in 
the  Netherlands,  288. 

Mark,  William  de  la,  heads  the  "  sea- 
beggars,"  304. 

Marot,  Clement,  in  Ferrara,  392;  his 
version  of  the  Psalms,  254;  they  are 
sung  by  martyrs,  256. 

Marsilius  of  Padua,  his  "Defensor 
Paeis,"  41. 

Martel,  Charles,  defeats  the  Moham- 
medans, 22. 

Martin  V..  his  conduct  after  he  was 
chosen  Pope,  43. 

Martin,  Henri,  on  Zwingle,  143;  on  the 
slaughter   of   St.  Bartholomew,  276. 

Martyr,  Peter,  called  to  England,  326; 
on  predestination,  336;  becomes  a 
Protestant,  394;  flies  from  Italy,  404. 

Mary,  Queen  of  England,  restores  Ca- 
tholicism, 327;  her  marriage  with 
Philip  II.,  327;  becomes  unpopular, 
329. 

Mary,  Regent  of  Scotland,  her  course 
towards  the  Protestants,  353;  her 
death,  356. 

Mary  de  Medici,  seeks  an  alliance  with 
Spain,  447. 

Mary,  Queen  of  Scots,  peril  to  Eng- 
land from  her  pretensions,  352;  re- 
turns to  Scotland,  357;  her  qual- 
ities, 357;  her  policy  respecting 
religion,  358;  celebrates  mass  in    her 


chapel,  358;  her  relations  to  Murray, 
358 ;  crushes  the  Earl  of  Huntley,  358 ; 
debates  with  Knox  on  the  obligations 
of  a  subject,  361;  holds  anbther  inter- 
view with  Knox,  363;  sends  for  him 
again,  364;  her  projected  marriage 
with  a  Catholic  Prince,  365;  it  is  pub- 
licly opposed  by  Knox,  365;  she  calls 
him  to  account,  366;  cites  Knox  be- 
fore the  privy  council,  366;  her  mar- 
riage with  Darnley,  369;  Elizabeth's 
displeasure  with  it,  369 ;  alarm  of  the 
Protestants,  369 ;  they  take  up  arms, 
369;  she  is  disgusted  with  her  hus- 
band,. 370,  372;  escapes  from  Holy- 
rood  to  Dunbar,  371;  her  attachment 
to  Bothwell,  372;  she  visits  Damley, 
373;  takes  him  to  Kirk-of-field,  374; 
her  abduction  by  Bothwell,  374;  she 
marries  him,  375 ;  captured  at  Car- 
berry-Hill,  375;  insulted  by  the  peo- 
ple, 375;  a  prisoner  in  Lochleven, 
375 ;  Melville  on  her  attachment  to 
Bothwell,  370;  did  she  write  the 
"casket  letters'?"  376;  abdicates 
and  appoints  Murray  regent,  378; 
escapes  from  Lochleven,  380;  de- 
feated at  Langside,  381;  escapes  to 
England,  381;  the  hope  of  the  ene- 
mies of  Elizabeth,  381;  her  execu- 
tion, 381. 

Maryland,  religious  liberty  in,  508. 

Massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew,  how 
planned.  275;  number  killed  in  Paris 
and  elsewhere,  277;  joy  in  Home  and 
Madrid,  277;  its  effect  on  the  Hu- 
guenots, 280. 

Massachusetts,  alleged  intolerance  in, 
440. 

Mathesius,  on  the  religious  instruction 
given  to  youth  before  the  Reforma- 
tion, 88. 

Maurice,  Prince  of  Orange,  310;  his 
quarrel  with  the  Elector  John  Fred- 
eric, 159:  his  character,  159;  his 
defection,  159;  turns  against  Charles 
V..  and  why,  160;  chases  him  out 
of  Innspruck,  167. 

Maurus,  Rabanus,  denied  transubstan- 
tiatiou,  148. 


INDEX 
message  about  Lu- 
inclined  to  Protestant- 


Gil 


Maximilian  I.,  hi 
(her,  4!t. 

Maximilian  II 
ism,  422. 

Maximilian,  of  Bavaria,  leader  of  the 
Catholic  League,  424. 

Mayenne,  Duke  of.  280. 

Mazarin,  his  policy,  450. 

Meanx,  spirit  of  reform  in,  245. 

Medici,  Julian  and  Lorenzo  de,  plot 
for  their  assassination,  15. 

Melanethon,  his  character,  97:  Reuch- 
lin's  prophecy  respecting,  !•?;  his  be- 
lief in  astrology,  •'!;  on  the  year  of  Lu- 
ther's birth,  87;  his  doings  at  the  Diet 
<»f  Angsburg  (1530),  11!);  cheered  by 
Luther,  121;  at  the  conference  at 
Marburg,  152;  changes  his  opinion 
on  the  Eucharist  and  Predestina- 
tion, 160;  Jiis  changed  relations  to 
Luther,  1(30;  his  funeral  address  »n 
Luther,  102;  his  connection  with  the 
I^eipsic  Interim,  165;  his  concessions, 
165;  offended  by  a  letter  of  Calvin, 
204;  Calvin's  affection  for,  214;  op- 
poses Calvin's  doctrine  of  Predesti- 
nation, 214:  on  the  execution  ,,f  Scr- 
vetus,  232:  invited  to  Paris  by  Francis 
I.,  252;  his  commentary  on  the  Ro- 
mans, 461:  on  the  spread  of  Protes- 
tantism in  Italy.  394;  on  the  observ- 
ance of  Sunday,  483. 

Melville,  Andrew,  380. 

Melville,    James,    his     description     of 

Knox,  380. 
Melville,  Sir  James,  on  the   policy  pre- 
scribed  to  Mary    of     Scotland,    359; 
on  the   abduction  of   Mary,  375;   on 
her  love  to  Both  well.  375. 
Mendicant  orders,how  treated  by  <  'hau- 

cer,  35. 
Menno,  his  influence  on   the  Anabap- 
tists, 311. 
Mennonites,  their  character.  'III. 
Mersenne,  544. 
Methodius,   a    missionary    in  Bohemia, 

178. 
Michelet,  on  Catharine  de  Medici,  27:.: 

on  Richelieu,  450. 
Middle  Ages,  Christianity  of  the,   8; 


characterized,  83;  char*  • 

ill  tie 

Mignet,  on   the   vacillal 

I..  251. 
Millenary  petition 
Milman,  on  the  anti-hi<    . 

<>f    the  .ally  \, .,-:..,.    ,|  i:    ;..,  .   _. 

Militz.  81. 

Miltitz,  ids  negotiation  with  Lot! 

Milton,  on  the  tlaveryof  th<  : 

Italy,  .V_>7:  Ids  visit  to    G 

on  the   lib  rty  of  the  ; 

forbidding  the  ma 

ius.  588. 
Miin. rites,  principles  of  the,  41. 
Missions,  Protestant  and  I 
Mohammedanism,  its  |,r, 

rope,  22:  checked  bv  <  I 

22. 
M<  bier,  on  Protestantism  and  1;  . 

ism,  6. 
Molanus.  his  correspond 

suet.  484 

Monarchy,  its  rictory  on 
1 1 :  the  watchword  of  tfa 
of  the  Papacy  in   the  Uth 
4U:  consolidation  of,   ;:.    ,  ., 

the  15th  century,  44;  1 1 
ise  on,  40. 

Molina,  his  b)  stem,  451. 

Monasticism,  opposition  i  I 
79 :  origin  of,  79. 

Montaigne,  his  father  00 

of  the  Reformation,  6  ;  b 

251. 
Montmorenci,     outstripped     bi 

Goises,  258;  one  of  the  rriui 

964, 
Morata.  Prof 
More.  >ir  Thomas,  si    I 

"  Utopia,"  78 :  th< 
Mornay,    Du    P 

with  Do  Perron,  I 
Morone,  on  ii. 

in  I:. i 
Morton,  Earl  of, 
Miihlberg,  battle  ■  •:. 

Muna\  .  «  - 
Scotland    m 
the  di»|  :*k*m 


012 


INDEX. 


up  arms  on  the  Queen's  marriage, 
3G9;  took  no  part  in  the  murder  of 
Darnley,  -373;  Spottiswoode's  opinion 
of,  377:  his  perspicacity  and  firm- 
ness, 380;  brings  toward  the  "cas- 
ket letters,"  381. 

Mysticism,  the  nature  of,  65;  in  An- 
pelm,  65;  of  Briconnet  and  his 
friends,  245. 

Mystics,  in  the  Middle  Ages,  65  ;  works 
on  the,  65 :  the  pioneers  of  the  Ref- 
ormation, 67. 

Names,  how  rendered  into  Greek  and 
Latin,  97. 

Nantes,  Edict  of,  established,  283;  its 
revocation,  454. 

Naples,  Protestantism  in,  394,  395. 

Nationalism,  rise  and  characteristics  of, 
31;  exhibited  by  the  Legists,  36; 
opposed  to  Boniface  VIII. ,  36. 

Navarre,  Henry  d'Albret,  king  of,  246. 

Navarre,  Anthony  of.  his  opposition  to 
the  Guises.  258;  his  character  and 
aims,  258;  won  over  to  the  Catholics, 
267;  his  death,  269. 

Neander,  on  the  Middle  Ages,  9;  on  the 
origin  of  the  Episcopate,  15;  on  the 
religious  feeling  of  the  German  race, 
86;  on  Zwingle,  143;  on  the  origin 
and  nature  of  Rationalism,  546. 

Nemours,  Duchess  of,  274. 

Nepotism  of  the  Popes,  45. 

Netherlands,  sects  in,  before  the  Refor- 
mation, 57;  thrift  and  intelligence 
of  the,  285;  relation  to  the  German 
Empire  (1518),  286;  how  Protestant- 
ism was  introduced  into  the,  280; 
persecution  under  Charles  V.,  287; 
Dumber  of  martyrs  under  Charles  V. 
in  the,  289;  first  complaints  against 
Philip  II.,  292;  the  inquisition  in 
the,  294;  hatred  of  the  Spaniards 
in  the,  297:  icononoclasm  in  the,  299; 
44  Council  of  P>l«»od,"  in  the,  302; 
submission  of  the  Catholic  provinces 
to  Philip,  309;  preponderance  of  the 
Calvinists  in  the,  311. 

New  England,  cause  of  its  settlement, 

.    439.' 


Nicholas  I.,  Pope,  his  power,  25. 

Nicholas  V.,  Pope,  his  grant  to  Al- 
phonso,  King  of  Portugal,  47. 

Nicole,  452. 

Nimeguen,  Treaty  of,  455. 

Nominalism,  its  effect  on  scholasticism, 
70. 

Nordlingen,  battle  of,  431. 

Norfolk,  his  rebellion,  381. 

Norway,  the  Reformation  in,  175. 

Nostradamus,  the  astrologer,  8. 

Nuremberg,Diet  of  (1522),  presents  one 
hundred  complaints  against  the  See 
of  Rome, 115 ;  Diet  of  (1524),  remands 
the  subject  of  the  Worms  decree  to 
the  several  princes,  115;  Peace  of, 
(1532),  57. 

Occam,  William  of,  maintains  the 
cause  of  the  civil  authority,  40;  his 
nominalism  and  sceptical  philosophy, 
70:  his  relation  to  Luther's  doctrine 
of  the  Eucharist,  151. 

Ochino.  becomes  a  Protestant,  394;  flies 
from  Italy,  404;  a  professor  at  Ox- 
ford, 326;  a  Unitarian,  478. 

CEcolampadius,  his  character,  143;  on 
the  doctrine  of  Servetus,  227. 

Oldenburg,  Count  of,  175. 

Old  Testament,  character  of  the  re- 
ligion of  the,  14. 

Olivetan,  Peter,  194. 

"  Opposants,"  453. 

Oratory  of  Divine  Love,  its  members 
and  spirit,  392. 

Orders,  rise  of  the  mendicant,  31;  in- 
dicate a  revival  of  religious  zeal,  397. 

Osiander,  322. 

Otho  I.,  the  Holy  Roman  Empire  be- 
gins witli  him,  25. 

Otho  III.,  intervenes  in  the  affairs  of 
the  Papacy,  25. 

Otho  IV.,  excommunicated  by  Inno- 
cent III.,  30. 

Oxenstiern,  430. 

Palestrina,  412. 

Palfrey,  his  history  of  New  England, 

441.' 
Pallavicini,  on  Leo  X.,  46. 


INDEX. 


Pantheism,  its  relation  to   Deism,  544. 
Papacy,  its  relation  to  the  sacerdotal 
order,   14;    its  growth  favored   by 
political  circumstances,  21;  its  alli- 
ance with  the  Franks,  22;  its  relation 
to  Charlemagne,  23;  how  affected  b) 
the  divisions  of  his  empire,  24;  ex- 
alted by  the  Pseudo-Isidorian  Decn  ■ 
tals,  2i;   period    of    Pornocracy    in 
the,  25;  intervention  of  Otho  I..  <  >tho 
III.,    and  Henry   III.,  in   the  affairs 
of  the,  25;  Hildebrand's  idea  of  the, 
26;  its  conflict  with  the  Empire,  26; 
its  advantages  in  this  conflict,   27 ; 
aided  in  the  conflict   by  divisions  in 
Germany,  27;  victory  of  the,  28;  cul- 
mination of  its  power,  20 ;  how  alb  cted 
by  the  rule  of  celibacy,  29 ;  theory  of 
the,  advanced  by  Innocent  III.,  29: 
nature  of  its  struggle  with  the  Em- 
pire, 32;  benefits  of  the,  intheMiddle 
Ages,  32;  how  treated  by  Dante,  Pe- 
trarch, and  Boccaccio,  34;   reaction 
against  the,  30 ;  decline  of  its  prestige, 
38;  in  the  period  of  Babylonian  cap- 
tivity, 38;  its  aggressions  upon  Ger- 
many, England,  and  other  cbuntries, 
38;  the  Great  Schism,  42;  Gallican 
theory  of  the,  42;  spirit  of  the,  in  the 
15th  century,  44;  secularizing  of  the, 
50;  character  of  the  in  the  Middle 
Ages,   50;    its  weakness  under  and 
after  Louis  XIV.,  457. 
Parkman,  his   work    on    the  Jesuits  in 

America,  550. 
Parliament,   the   French,  supports  or- 
thodoxy,   242,    244;    the    Scotti  a, 
confirms  the  establishment  of   Prot- 
estantism, 378. 
Parma,  Alexander  of.  in   command    in 
the  Netherlands,   806;  the  Catholic 
provinces  submit  to  him, 310;  Philip's 
design  to  dismiss  him,  310;  his  ''li- 
test with  Henry  IV.  in    Frani 
Paris,    a    seat   of    Catholic  fanaticism, 

269. 
Paris,    University   of,    condemns     the 

"  Colloquies  "  of  Erasmus,  81. 
Pascal,  his  "  Provincial  letter 
525. 


Paesan,  Ireaty  ,  f,  ig7. 

Patrick,  Bishop, 

Paul,  the   A]  ,    intar. 

pretatioo  of  I  ari  tiai  ii 
Pan!  HI..  Pope,  ai«  belli  I 

■');  encoun  ! 

Prot 

I.  against  Charles  v..  166;  I 

to  the  Catholic reformin 
■ 

transfers  the  Conned]  of    l 
iffna,  401. 
Panl  I\'.,  his  administration,  Ml;   hi* 

treatment  of  Rlimbeth,  411; 

lation         (J  •; 

830. 
Paulicians,  55. 
Pavia,  battle  <>f,  lb;. 
Pepin,  his  usurpation,  88;  delivers  tho 

Papa 
Pepys,  his  diary,  ; 
Perrin,   Amy,  $  _  u   i,iflUrrec_ 

tion,  233. 

rst  mention  of  him  as  Biahop  of 

Rome,  18. 
Peter  of  Bnrj 
Petersen,  Olaf,   and  Lawrence,  preach 

the  Reformation  in  S* 
Petit,  •!.,  505. 

Petrarch,   00    the    1'  bis    re- 

lation 

on    the    COrrnptii  i'.ipacy, 

388. 

p 

Philip,  the  I.:  I  with  lloni 

■  ill.,  -;7 ;  mi  the  u 

the   cl( 

realm, 

Philip,    I 
unite  the   Lutherans  and  the    - 
162;  reel 

I     .'  ; 

V..  p.; . 
Philip  1 1 
alarm   in  Fi  .     u« 

ns  t"  tli     I 
280;  his  cha  in  bBpisjon 

his  unpopularity  i 


614 


INDEX. 


290;  appoints  Margaret  of  Parma 
Regent,  291 ;  leaves  regiments  in  the 
Netherlands,  292 ;  increases  the  num- 
ber of  bishoprics  there,  292 ;  revives 
the  persecuting  edicts  of  Charles  V., 
294 ;  effect  of  his  persecution  in  the 
Netherlands,  2D7 ;  professes  to  miti- 
gate the  persecution,  298 ;  his  perfidy, 
299;  sends  Alva  to  the  Netherlands 
301 ;  condemns  all  the  people  of  the 
Netherlands  as  heretics,  302;  will 
not  grant  toleration,  305;  reply  of 
.  William  of  Orange  to  his  charges, 
307;  his  design  to  dismiss  Parma, 
310;  discomiiture  of,  311;  carries 
England  into  war  with  France,  330 ; 
his  death,  330. 

"  Pierce  the  Ploughman's  Crede,"  34. 

Piers'  Ploughman,  the  vision  of,  34. 

Pisa,  the  Council  of,  43. 

Piotrkow,  Diet  of,  186. 

Pius  IV.,  his  character,  411. 

Pius  V.,  his  character  and  policy,  411; 
requests  Alva  to  destroy  Geneva, 
302. 

Pius  IX.,  his  Encyclical  Letter,  518. 

Plymouth,  settlement  at,  439;  settled 
by  Separatists,  440 ;  their  agreement 
with  the  Massachusetts  settlers,  440. 

Poggio,  222;  his  character,  390. 

Poissy,  Colloquy  of,  265;  Beza's  ap- 
pearance at,  265 ;  result  of  the,  265. 

Poland,  its  condition  before  the  Ref- 
ormation, 184;  how  Protestantism 
was  introduced  into,  184;  its  pro- 
gress in,  185;  dissension  of  Protes- 
tants in,  187. 

Pole,  Cardinal,  how  treated  by  the 
Catholic  Reaction,  406;  deprived  of 
his  legatine  office,  330. 

Politiques,  rise  of  the  Party  of,  277. 

Political  Economy,  rise  of  the  science 
of,  540. 

Polity,  the  Lutheran,  its  main  features, 
491 ;  the  reformed,  495. 

Pomponatius,  542. 

Popes,  origin  of  their  temporal  king- 
dom, 24;  their  infallibility  asserted, 
30;  their  character  in  the  fifteenth 
century,  45;  their  relation  to  the 
temporal  power,  504. 


Praemunire,  statute  of,  passed,  40;  re- 
vived by  Henry  VIII.,  320. 

Pragmatic  Sanction,  history  of  the,  48 ; 
repeal  of  the,  49. 

Prague,  University  of,  declares  for  the 
Utraquists,  179. 

Prayer-Book  of  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land, framed,  326. 

Predestination,  Calvin's  doctrine  of, 
200 ;  Zwingle's  view  of,  200 ;  Calvin's 
view  compared  with  Augustine's, 
201;  with  Luther's,  202;  in  the  Lu- 
theran theology,  202 ;  views  of  Angli- 
can reformers  on,  335 ;  they  are  not 
rigid  in  the  assertion  of,  338 ;  discus- 
sion of,  among  the  Protestants,  472. 

Presbyterianism,  how  far  legalized  in 
England,  438;  established  in  Scot- 
land, 446 ;  its  form  in  Geneva,  497 ; 
in  France,  498:  in  Scotland,  498. 

Presbyterians,  how  treated  by  Charles 
II.,  442;  their  jealousy  of  State 
control,  499. 

Prescott,  on  William  of  Orange,  309. 

Prierias,  Sylvester,  writes  against 
Luther,  96. 

Priesthood,  idea  of,  connected  with  the 
ministry,  16. 

Professio  Filei  (Tridentine),  402. 

Protest  at  the  Diet  of  Spires  (1529),  117. 

Protestantism,  its  positive  element,  9; 
its  objective  side,  9;  its  source  in  the 
Scriptures,  10 :  a  practical  assertion 
of  private  judgment,  10;  rejects 
Papal  and  priestly  authority,  13; 
characterized,  54;  spread  of  (from 
1532),  157  ;  from  the  Peace  of  Augs- 
burg (1555),  169;  why  its  progress 
was  checked,  415;  less  acceptable  in 
Southern  Europe,  419 ;  variations  of 
its  polity,  487;  its  spirit  in  the  seven- 
teenth century,  •  543 ;  its  struggle  in 
the  seventeenth  century,  421;  its  in- 
fluence on  liberty,  513;  its  political 
effect  on  Germany,  514;  in  England, 
514;  in  America,  515;  effect  of  the 
suppression  of  it  on  literature  in 
Spain,  520 ;  in  Italy,  522 ;  ifs  relation 
to  the  tine  arts,  540;  spirit  of  prog- 
ress in,  551;  multiplying  of  sects 
under,  548;  in  Italy:  circumstances 


INDEX. 


favorable  and  unfavorable  to 
forced  to  conceal  itself,  391;  a  thing 

of  degrees,  391;  its  spread,  392;  Bee 
"Reformation,"  under  the  separate 
reformers,    and  under  the    different 

countries. 
Protestants,  origin  of  the  name,  117;  do 

not  submit  to  the  action  of  the  Diet 

of  Spires  (152 J),  118;  their  number 
in  Spain,  408;  their  divisions  aid  the 
Catholic  Reaction,  415;  their  doe- 
trine  of  the  Church,  464. 

Protestant  nations  compared  with  Cath- 
olic, 510. 

Provence,  the  bards  of,  33. 

"Provincial  Letters,"  452. 

Provisors,  statute  of,  40. 

Prussia,  its  rise,  45G. 

Pseudo-Isidorian  Decretals,  character 
and  effect  of  the,  24. 

Puritans,  their  origin  and  tenets,  342; 
their  objections  to  the  vestments. 
342;  their  doctrines  as  expounded 
by  Cartwright,  345;  under  James  I., 
433,  434;  ejection  of  their  ministers 
(1G62),  442. 

Puritan  controversy,  the  merits  of  it, 
348;  Lord  Bacon's  judgment,  341). 

Rabelais,  the  spirit  of  his  writings,  250. 

Radbert,  147. 

Raleigh,  Sir  Walter,  435,  533. 

Ramus,  Peter,  499. 

Rationalism,  German,,  its  two  types, 
545;  in  the  Deistic  form,  54(1;  Pan- 
theistic, 54(3. 

Ratisbon,  Catholic  alliance  formed  at, 
115;  conference  at,  157. 

Ratramnus,  denied  transubstantiation, 
148. 

Ranke,  on  Tycho  Brahe  and  astrol- 
ogy, 3;  on  Leo  X.,  47;  his  criticism 
of  Davila,  2G0;  on  the  conspiracy 
of  Amboise,  261;  on  the  Orleans 
plot,  263;  on  the  slaughter  of  St 
Bartholomew,  276;  on  I  Liny  I  v. 
and  the  Huguenots,  288;  on  tin 
"Casket  Letters"  and  the  murder 
of  Darnlev,  -J77  :  on  Sarpi  and  l'al- 
lavicini,  400;  on   the  absence  of    the 


61o 


spiril 

■!lt-.    116. 

Reformation,  long  in  props 
individuals  in  t, 
origin  and  nature  a  sub 
versj 
called  by  I 

in   rely  a  oontil 

strife  of    popes  end    i 

not     merely   a    p  .ti     4  . 


Guizol 


■ 


religi 
chars 
ity  as  Gospel  against  I 

law.  :•;  1.  nds  :  -    .,•■ 

J":     not    an     isolal 

K);  ageof  the, chars 

fold  aspect  «d  the.  li:  , 

limits  of  the,  is-  Bellarmini  .   ' 

VI.,  and   Erasmus,  on  the 

13  ;  how   it  gpn  1  rmany, 

170;  allies  itself  with  . 

the  towns  of  the   Hanaa,    1: , 

runners  of    the,    how    1  las  r 

can--  and  omi  Ufl  of  thi  . 

ou-  influences  in  th 

•si ;  1  ould  aol  come  from  1 1 

132;  il  1  Germany 

I L5;    ii-   .ml  u  ...  •■    •   . 

literature,  519;  c  irapl  1 

mu<,  519;  it-    .  1":. .  |  ,  ;i  i  ;  ratwe  in 

England,   5 

i;-      , 

•r'-;i :    in   c.  rmanj  1 

1..  Hollan 

political  eon 

"ii  religion,  •'•»!  1 

philosophy  . 
Reformi  re,   Gallican,  hel  I 

authority, 
R(  formers,  radical, 
Reforms,  efforts  to 

teenth  centun  . 
I: 

10  crush  Lutberanism,  1 14. 
Religion,    its  chara<  t.  r   i 

\ 

rei  ival  ol  • 


616 


INDEX. 


Renaissance,  the  tone  of   it  in  France, 

250;  scepticism  of  the  Italian,  542. 

See  ';  Revival  of   Learning." 

Republic,  the  Dutch,  rise  of,  305;  grows 
strong  under  Maurice,  310.  See 
"Netherlands"  "William  of  Or- 
ange," "Philip  II." 

Requesens,  his  policy,  305;  success- 
ful in  the  South,  305;  his  death, 
305;  revolt  of  his  soldiers,  305. 

Reservation,  the  Ecclesiastical,  168;  its 
effect,  169,  416;  complaints  of  its 
violation,  423. 

Restitution,  Edict  of,  427. 

Restoration,  of  Charles  II.,  how 
effected,  441. 

Reuchlin,  his  religious  character,  74; 
his  contest  with  the  monks,  74;  con- 
demned by  the  Sorbonne,  244. 

Revival  of  Learning,  spreads  over 
Europe,  68;  its  consequences  to  re- 
ligion, 68;  produces  the  downfall  of 
Scholasticism,  69;  its  effect  on  the 
study  of  the  Scriptures,  71;  its 
sceptical  character  in  Italy,  72;  its 
character  in  Germany,  74:  in  Eng- 
land. 76. 

Revolution,  French,  gradually  pre- 
pared, 1;  predicted,  2. 

Reynard  the  Fox,  and  the  brute  epic,  33. 

Reynolds,  Dr.,  at  the  Hampton  Court 
Conference,  435. 

Ricci,  550. 

Richter,  on  the  origin  of  the  Episco- 
pate, 15. 

Richelieu,  motive  of  his  intervention  in 
Germany,  421);  gets  the  control  of 
the  war,  431;  his  internal  policy, 
448;  his  foreign  policy,  450;  his 
political  testament,  449. 

Ridley,  on  Predestination,  336;  his 
martyrdom,  328. 

Litter  J.  I.,  on  the  decline  of  the 
Papacy,  51;  on  Leo  X.,  47. 

Rizzio,  murder  of,  370. 

Robertson,  J.  B.,6. 

Robinson,  John,  his  principles,  347,  439. 

Rochelle,  its  usefulness  to  the  Hugue- 
nots, 271. 

Rokycana,  181. 


Rome,  city  of,  its  preeminence,  18; 
sacked  by  the  imperial  troops,  117. 

Rome,  Empire  of,  effect  of  its  fall  on 
the  Church,  22. 

Rome,  See  of,  grounds  of  its  distinc- 
tion, 19;  foundation  of  its  primacy, 
in  the  East,  20;  political  ground  of 
the  primacy  of,  18;  growth  of  its 
power,  20 ;  favored  by  Roman  empe- 
rors, 21;  servile  relations  of,  to 
Justinian,  21;  the  bishop  of,  his 
primacy,  18;  how  built  up,  18; 
view  of  Cyprian,  18.  See  "  Pa- 
pacy," and  under  the  separate  popes. 

Romorantin,  Edict  of,  261. 

Roscoe,  on  the  character  of  Leo  X.,  47. 

Rothe,  on  the  organization  of  the  prim- 
itive Church,  15. 

Rouen,  captured  and  sacked  by  the 
Catholics,  269. 

Roussel,  G.,  takes  refuge  with  Bri- 
connet,  245. 

Rudolph  II.,  his  fanaticism,  423. 

Rudolph  of  Hapsburg,  his  submission 
to  the  Papacy,  29. 

Ryswick,  Peace  of,  456. 

Sacraments,  Luther's  discussion  of  the, 

100. 
Sadolet,  Calvin's  letter  to,  216. 
Saint  Andre,  one   of   the  Triumvirate, 

265. 
Sainte    Beuve,   on   infidelity  in  France 

under  Louis  XIV.,  544. 
Sarpi,  Father  Paul,  on  Leo  X.,  46. 
Savoy,  Dukes  of,  Vidames  of  Geneva, 

208. 
Savoy  Conference,  442. 
Scandinavian    kingdoms,    their  union, 

170;  power  of  the  prelates    in,  170. 
Scepticism,  of  the  Renaissance  in  Italy, 

542;     origin     of     modern,    542;    in 

France,  544;    in    the  reign  of   Louis 

XIV.,  458. 
Schism,  the  Great  Papal,  42. 
Scholasticism,   its   uses,  69;    causes  of 

its  downfall,  69,  70. 
Savonarola,  his  career,  64;  works  on, 64. 
Schleiennacher,  character  of  his  influ- 
ence, 546,  547. 


INDEX. 


617 


Schmidt,  on  the  Catharists,  ?<'>. 
Schwab,  on  Boniface  VIII.,  37. 

Schurff,  Jerome,  110. 

Scotland,  its  condition  at  the  Ref  rma- 
tion,  352;  roughness  of  the  nobles, 
351;  wealth  apd  profligacy  of  its 
clergy,  352;  covetousness  of  the 
nobles,  352;  need  of  Reformation 
in,  352;  attempts  at  reform  in,  353; 
martyrs  in,  353;  Reformation  legal- 
ized in,  356;  delivered  from  danger 
from  the  Guises,  357;  League  and 
Covenant  formed  in  (1638),  4:57; 
under  Charles  II.,  and  , lames  II., 
446;  benefit  of  the  Reformation  to, 
536;  Reformation  in,  connected  with 
that  of  England,  351 ;  Reformation 
in,  not  preceded  by  the  revival  of 
letters,  352,  marked  by  hatred  of 
the  Papacy,  353,  established  by  law, 
356.  See  "Knox,""  Mary,  Queen 
of  Scots,"  "Protestantism." 

Scroggs,  Judge,  521). 

Sects,  rise  of  anti-sacerdotal,  54  ;  work- 
on  them,  55;  anti-sacerdotal,  what 
they  indicate,  58;  multiplication  of, 
548;  analogous  divisions  in  the  <  lath- 
olic  church,  548;  had  effect  of,  549. 

Selden,  438. 

Scmler,  relation  of  Rationalism  to, 
545,  547. 

Sendomir,  Synod  of,  187. 

Servetus,  influence  of  his  death  favora- 
ble to  toleration,  225;  his  early  his- 
tory and  studies,  226;  publishes  his 
book  on  the  Trinity,  227;  as  a  nat- 
uralist and  physician,  227;  at 
Vienne,  227;  publishes  his  "Res- 
toration of  Christianity,"  228;  his 
doctrine,  228;  arraigned  for  heresy 
before  a  Roman  Catholic  tribunal, 
228;  evidence  against  him  from 
Geneva,  228:  escapes  and  comes  to 
Geneva,  229;  is  tried,  convicted,  and 
burned  at  the  stake,  230;  Guizot'fl 
judgment  of,  232;  the  execution  of , 
generally  approved,  932.  See  "Cal- 
vin." 

Seville,  Protestantism  in,  408. 

Sigismund  I.,  King  of  Poland,  185. 


Sigiwnund     II..    K     -       • 

friendly  to  Protestantisa 
Silvester,  Po| 
Sismondi,  on  Italv  in  th< 

Sixtua  l\  .    I' ■  ■  ■ 
aims,  45;  1 
delh  ds  fron  pur 

Sixths   V.,  his   In  ; 

106. 
Sociniani-in,  its  principli 
Socinus,  Paustus,  bis  history,  I 

influence  in  Polan  1,  :  - 
Socinus,    Laelios,    479;    why    I 

with  forbearance  by  Calvin,  i 
Somerset,  895;    his   inva 

laud,   326;    buj  p 

rebellion,  826;  brought  I     I 

fold. 

Sorbonne,  hostile    t.>    Innova 

doctrine,  249,  244;  host 

lin,  214;    i:    puts  forth 
Smalcald,    League    of,    I 

admission  of   the  four  ■ 
Smalcaldic  War.  164. 
Smith.  Mrs.  II.  I'..  906. 
Spain,  monarchy,  in  the 

in,  44 ;  fanatical  npiril  of   t! 

archy   in,    98 1;    the  inquisil 

28  I;  attacked  by   tht 

Dutch,   310;     it-  desu 

with    England,   88  j   spirit 

in.  406;  Protestant   influence  -  upon, 

407 :   character  of    Prot< 

407 :     Prol  tstantism    era 

409.   Bee  M  L  •• 
Spinola,  hii  i  EForta  fi  r  tl 

chui 
Spin-..  Diet 

117. 
Spirituals,    "r    I'ratric.  Hi,    their    char- 

.  57. 
Spottisw  ' 

Mary.  875. 

St.   Aldegon  ! 
tion  \\ ith  w 

State,     ;• 

( hur.li,  statcnici  I 
confession,    490;    ■  f     ' 


618 


INDEX. 


of  Melancthon,  490;  in  Germany, 
494;  Zwingle's  view,  494.  See 
"Church  and  State." 

States  General  of  France,  their  meet- 
ing at  Orleans,  262. 

Staupitz,  his  counsels  to  Luther,  90. 

St.  Bartholomew,  massacre  of,  was  it 
premeditated,  276. 

St.  Cyran,  452. 

St.  Germain,  edict  of  (1562),  266; 
Treaty  of  (1570),  272. 

Stillmgneet,  446. 

Strauss,  D.  F.,  546. 

Stunica,  his  charges  of  heresy  against 
Erasmus,  81. 

St.  Victor,  School  of,  65. 

Supremacy,  act  of,  under  Henry 
VIII.,  321. 

Supremacy,  the  King's,  meaning  at- 
tached to  it  at  first,  332 ;  indirectly 
assailed  by  the  Puritans,  346. 

Sunday,  theory  of  the  Reformers  on 
its  observance,  483. 

Sutri,  Synod  of,  25. 

Sweden,  first  preaching  of  Protestant- 
ism in,  176;  adopts  the  Reformation, 
176;  conduct  of  its  soldiers  in  Ger- 
many, 427;  efforts  of  Jesuits  in, 
414 ;  how  affected  by  the  treaty  of 
Westphalia,  432;  decline  of  its 
power,  456. 

Switzerland,  its  condition  in  the  15th 
century,  136;  how  demoralized, 
136;  influence  of  literary  culture  in, 
137;  the  Reformation  in,  both  politi- 
cal and  religious,  143;  catastrophe 
of  the  Reformation  in,  154. 

Taborites,  their  tenets,  179. 

Tacitus,  on  the  religion  of  the  Ger- 
mans, 85. 

Taine,  on  the  character  of  the  Ger- 
mans, 85;  on  the  religious  feeling  of 
Elizabethan  writers,  533. 

Tasso,  412,  522. 

Tauler,  John,  his  character,  66;  is 
studied  by  Luther,  90. 

••  Territorial  system,"  494. 

Tertullian,  against  persecution,  222. 

Tetzel,  his  sale  of  indulgences,  92; 
his  counter-theses,  96. 


Theatins,  their  origin,  397. 

Theology,  Lutheran,  peculiarities  of, 
481. 

Theology,  the  Protestant,  its  essential 
principles,  459;  its  denial  of  human 
merit,  461;  makes  the  Bible  the  rule 
of  faith,  461 ;  its  doctrine  of  the 
Church,  464;  its  doctrine  of  a  uni- 
versal priesthood.  468;  its  opposition 
to  the  Mass,  penances,  etc.,  469;  to 
invocation  of  Mary  and  the  Saints, 
the  worship  of  images  and  relics, 
pilgrimages,  etc.,  470;  its  qualita- 
tive conception  of  character,  471. 

Theology,  Roman  Catholic,  its  doc- 
trine of  justification,  463;  its  doc- 
trine of  the  Church,  465 ;  its  doc- 
trine of  the  Sacraments,  466;  its 
modification  after  the  Reformation, 
467;  its  doctrine  of  the  priesthood, 
468. 

Theses,  Luther  posts  his,  92;  commo- 
tion excited  by  them,  95;  give  joy 
to  Reuchlin,  96;  opposed  by  Prierias, 
Tetzel,  andEck,  96. 

Thirty  Year's  War,  main  cause  of  its 
miseries,  426 :  how  ended,  431 ;  its 
effect  on  Germany,  432. 

Ticknor,  on  the  decline  of  Spanish  lit- 
erature, 521. 

Tillotson,  446. 

Tilly,  his  victories,  427. 

Toleration,  Act  of,  445. 

Torgau,  League  of,  116. 

Torquemada,  403. 

Tosti,  his  life  of  Boniface  VIIL,  37. 

Toulouse,  Albigenses  in,  55. 

Tournon,  Cardinal  de,  252. 

Traheron,  Bartholomew,  on  Calvinism 
in  England,  337;  on  the  Eucharistic 
question  in  England,  340. 

Transubstantiation,  the  doctrine  of, 
when  adopted  in  the  Church,  147: 
made  an  article  of  faith,  148;  denied 
by  Luther,  100;  denied  by  all  the 
Reformers,  148. 

Triumvirate,  its  formation  in  France, 
264. 

Trent,  Council  of,  begins  with  con- 
demning the  Protestant  doctrine,  164. 

Trie,  Guillaume,  228. 


INDEX. 


Trinity,  agreement  of  Catholics 
Protestants  on  the  doctrine  of 
460. 

Tulloch,  on  the  Anglican  Calvii 
339. 

Tunstal,  Bishop  of  Durham,  323. 

Turks,  the,  dangerous  to  Europe, 
they  hinder  Charles  V.  from  atl 
ing  the  Protestants,  157. 

Tycho  Brahe,  his  faith  in  astrolog 

Tyndale,  his  martyrdom,  317;  1' 
his  martyrdom,  317 


and 
the, 


v.  :;. 
rith, 


Ullmann,  on  the  nature  of  the  Refor- 
mation, 9. 

Uniformity,  Act  of,  331. 

Unigenitus,  the  Bull,  453;  its  effect 
on  the  French  clergy,  4o7. 

Union  of  Catholics  and  Protestants, 
efforts  to  procure  it,  4S1  ;  efforts  of 
Grotius,  482. 

Union,  of  Calvinists  and  Lutherans, 
efforts   to  procure  it,  481. 

Union,   Evangelical,  in    Germany,  424. 

Union,  the  Utrecht,  307. 

Unitarians,  in  Poland,  18(5;  in  Trans- 
sylvania,  190.  See  "Socinus,  Faus- 
tus." 

Universities,  strongholds  of  Scholasti- 
cism, 75;  Humanists  admitted  to 
some  of  them,  75;  influence  of  the 
Jesuits  in,  414. 

Urban  VI.,  Pope,  42. 

Urban  VIII.,  524. 

Usher,  Archbishop,  437:  a  Calvinist, 
339. 

Utraquists,  origin  of  the,  L78;  they 
go  beyond  Iluss,  L79;  not  subdued 
by  crusades,  181;  arc  heard  atthe 
Council  of  Basel,  181;  concessions 
to  them,  1S1 ;  division  of  th 
war  between  the  two  parti  ■  -  of, 
182;  refuse  to  join  Ferdinand  I.  in 
the Smalcaldic  War,  183. 

Utrecht,  Peace  of,  456. 

Dytenbogaert,  473. 

Valdez,  Juan,  394. 

Valentinian  III.,  gives  supremacy  in 
the  Church  to  Leo  I.,  21. 


Valla,  Laurentius,  • 

■ 
Van  Ma!.-.  2 
7a  a,   Gusta\  u 

taiiti-m  in  Sweden,  17>;. 
Vai  j .  i.  . 

dignation  of  the  Hi 
Vergerio,  ili.  fi  i 
Venice,  Proti  stantistn  in, 

.  Treaty  oi 
Vestmi !:;-.  contr  . 

ion  of  Jewel  and  other  bid 

the   use  of  thi  n 

Burleigh  and  oth 

advic  of  the  Swiss  l; 

statements  of  Macaulaj 
Villabra,  HO. 
Vilmar,   on   the  reception   of  I 

anity  by  the  German  . 
Vinet,  on  Calvin,  . 
Villari,  on  Savonarola,  64. 
Visitation,  tie   Saxon.  401. 
Voltair 

to  a  dispute  of    monks,  3;  Erasmus 

compared     with,      77: 
"  Provi 

Waddington,  on   Lather  and  tl 

ants'  War.  134. 
Waldenses,    tie  ir    origin   an  I    I 

56;  works  on  tl.- 

in  Calabria, 
Waldo,  Peter,  56. 
Wallenstein,  his  faith  in    i 

his  character,  126 ;  victi 

removed  from  con 

ed.  429;  pat  tO  death,  and  u 
W'arofCapi 

War,   the   P 
of    I.utheranisni  with.    1 
ormation  m< >t  responsil 

of,  2 
Warburton,  on  <  In- 

Walter,   on   tit 
pate,  15. 

Wartburg,    I 

112. 
Wesley,  John,  hi*  th< 


620 


INDEX. 


Westphalia,  Peace  of,  432. 

Westminster  Assembly,  how  com- 
posed, 437;  its  work,' 438. 

Wessel,  John,  his  opinions,  G3;  Luther 
on,  G3. 

Whitgift,  on  Episcopacy,  334;  a  stren- 
uous Calvinist,  339  ;  contrasted  with 
Hooker,  33!). 

Wickliffe,  his  tenets,  59;  works  on, 
59;  how  protected,  00;  a  realist,  70. 

Wiekliffites,  when  first  persecuted,  01. 

William  of  Nogaret,  he  assaults  Boni- 
face VI II.,  38. 

William  of  Orange,  his  early  history, 
290;  his  motives,  293;  quells  dis- 
turbances in  Antwerp,  300;  leaves 
the  country, 300;  his  efforts  to  deliver 
his  country,  303,  304;  insists  on  toler- 
ation, 313 ;  his  help  asked  by  Flanders 
and  Brabant,  300 ;  rejects  the  offers 
of  Don  John,  308;  reward  offered  for 
his  life,  307;  his  "  Apology,"  307; 
his  sincerity,  303;  l)is  prudence,  309  ; 
his  assassination,  309;  his  code  of 
ecclesiastical  laws,  314;  demands 
religious  liberty,  313. 

William  III.,  his  defense  of  Holland, 
456 ;  acknowledged  as  King  of  Eng- 
land, by  Louis  XIV.,  45G. 

Williams,  Roger,  440;  his  principles, 
508. 

Wiseman,  on  Boniface  VIII.,  37. 

Wittenberg,  University  of,  founded, 
75;  fosters  Humanism,  7G;  Luther 
a  Professor  at,  89. 

Wolmar,  Melchior,  teaches  Calvin 
Greek,  194. 

Wolsey,  Cardinal,  favors  learning, 
316;  his  fall,  320. 

Worcester  House  Declaration  of 
Charles  II.,  441. 

Worms  Concordat,  28. 

Worms,  Diet  of,  108;  its  decree 
against  Luther,  111. 

Worship,  order  of,  in  the  Protestant 
churches,  499. 


Wurtemburg,   Duke   of,  reestablished 

in  his  possessions,  157. 
Wullenweber,  174;  his  death,  175. 
Wyat,  his  insurrection,  327.' 
Wyttenbach,  Thomas,  his  reformatory 

tendencies,  137. 
Xavier,  St.  Francis,  290,  550. 
Ximenes,    Cardinal,   his    "  Polyglot,"' 

40G. 

Yuste,  Charles  V.,  at  the  convent  of, 
290. 

Zacharias,  Pope,  sanctions  the  usur- 
pation of  Pepin,  23. 

Zapolya,  John  of,  189. 

Ziska,  leader  of  the  Taborites,  180. 

Zurich,  public  disputation  at  (1523), 
140;  adopts  the  Reformation,  141; 
spread  of  the  Reformation  from, 
143.     See  "Zwingh'." 

Zwingle,  his  birth  and  parentage,  137; 
studies  at  Basel,  Berne,  and  Vienna, 
137;  pastor  at  Glarus,  138;  opposes 
the  pension-system,  138;  at  the  bat- 
tle of  Marignano,  138;  pastor  at 
Einsiedeln,  139;  preaches  against 
the  sale  of  indulgences,  139;  re- 
moves to  Zurich,  139;  his  power  as 
a  preacher,  140;  his  personal  char- 
acteristics, 140;  holds  a  public  dis- 
putation (1523),  140;  another  dis- 
putation, 141;  his  "Commentary" 
etc.,  142;  his  theological  tenets, 
142;  political  element  in  his  Refor- 
mation, 143;  contrasted  with  Lu- 
ther, 144;  his  patriotism,  145;  broke 
with  the  Papacy  after  Luther,  146 ; 
letter  to  him  from  Adrian  VI.,  147; 
his  pleasantry,  140;  his  doctrine  of 
the  Lord's  Supper,  148;  on  the  doc- 
trine of  Servctus,  227;  on  Church 
and  State,  494;  at  the  Conference  at 
Marburg,  152;  recommends  to  the 
Protestant  cantons  bold  measures, 
154;  his  death,  155. 


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